Succession
by New and Old
Summary: [OC/Somewhat-SI-fic.] A small, young village girl catches the eye of Maito Gai as he completes a low-rank mission in a secluded Fire-country village... What is it about her that reminds him of a certain porn-reading, perpetually late, legendary silver-haired man in Konoha?
1. A Prodigy is Born

_*Disclaimer: All characters from the Naruto franchise belongs to Masashi Kishimoto._

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**Succession**

**Chapter 1: A Prodigy is Born (Kumiko POV)**

(Posted 2014-08-14, Updated 2015-01-02)

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{(S)}

**~Prologue~**

{(S)}

_5 years ago_

_It was early dawn when the villagers found the injured woman, struggling towards the village. She was in labor, a kunai in her back nicking her lung. Their resident doctor was out collecting herbs._

_All knew it would be too late by the time he came back. The midwife of the village tried her best to stop the bleeding while trying to help the mother in labor… but she couldn't do anything._

_The woman was breathing heavily, drowning in her own blood as she tried to give birth and fight her climbing fever. The several words she seemed to be saying was kage__ and take__, but even that was in the midst of heavy coughing. Her mouth was distorted in pain as well, so the midwife didn't know if that was really what she said._

_The village doctor finally came rushing in just as the baby's head was becoming visible. The mother was fading fast._

_As soon as her baby – a girl – was placed in her arms, the wounded woman's eyes seemed to find focus again for a short amount of time, her gaze sharpening on her child. She gave a smile, grimaced at the pain, and whispered - choked - _something coherent _to her child._

_My beautiful baby._

_As her gaze started becoming unfocused again from the pain, her hand started losing what strength she had in holding the child. The baby was quickly taken away to make room for the doctor._

_In the midst of the flurry of activity, the woman grabbed the nearest hand and pulled the person – the midwife – to herself and choked out one more time: _care_._

_The midwife could only nod, understanding the garble for what it was: a request for the strangers to take care of the future of her child, compelled only because of her fast-approaching death._

_The midwife could not help but let her tears fall watching the stranger-woman's suffering. The dying woman's gaze softened. She took several more breaths, making desperate attempts to breathe. She choked and coughed up blood._

_The baby started to wail in earnest, as if knowing that her mother was dying. The doctor was doing everything he knew, but he was no med-nin. He was a simple man who only knew how to use herbs. The woman faded away and her shallow breaths became fewer and fewer in number until her body convulsed, and she stopped breathing altogether, her heart slowing to a stop._

_Later the villagers found the remains of a shinobi fight, though there were no bodies left behind. The mayor came to a conclusion that the mother had been on her way to town when a stray kunai from the fight hit her. There was no other good explanation, as who would purposely kill a pregnant woman like this so far away from the large towns?_

_The elderly mayor and his wife, who was the midwife, decided to keep the baby girl. But theirs was a small village, more of a big family living and farming together, so that in actuality, everyone had a hand in taking care of the baby girl._

_The midwife wanted Miko__ as the baby's name, as the mother had called her baby beautiful, but more people agreed to the doctor's suggestion of Kumiko__, as the baby was born through the long suffering of her mother._

* * *

{(S)}

_Namura, Fire Country - Present day_

My name is Tanaka Kumiko.

I live in the village of Namura. My foster mother, Yuuna oba-san, tells me that I am very special, brought into the world by a woman strong enough to travel a mile while in labor.

My village is tiny and small. I love it very much.

Though, some of the villagers look at me strangely when I talk – I don't understand why. They also react strangely when I tell them about what I did that day.

I once heard one mutter under his breath that I was unnatural and too smart. Too mature and quiet for my age, almost like those goddamn shinobi.

Maybe I'm not supposed to hear that. I want to ask oba-san what it means, but I don't want to tell her where I heard it from.

{(S)}

I have very strange dreams. In one, people all rode boxes and traveled very fast from place to place.

In my dreams, I am usually much taller than I am right now.

Last night's dream... I had a kaa-san and a tou-san. They hugged me and kissed me every night.

Last night's dream was that I went to a really loud place outside with a lot of people around. My kaa-san was with me, holding my hand. Tou-san was doing something in front, fiddling with a small black box. They were telling me to stay still.

Everything was good. I was happy.

Then a loud sound came from the sky.

We were all looking up into the sky, and I saw a great bird fly away, and something smaller falling.

Tou-san pulled me and kaa-san, running quickly. Kaa-san was looking scared.

The black thing was falling towards us.

Tou-san stopped us and ducked behind a nearby statue, saying it's no use, but let's hope. He pulled kaa-san close with me in between them. They kissed me.

They told me they loved me.

I told them I love them too.

They looked at each other.

They gave me a very tight hug.

I watched the black thing dropping towards us, onto the building a few streets away, through my tou-san's arms, peeking between the statue's feet.

There was fire, and I saw a wave of yellow, red and white hotness rushing towards us.

It was the last thing I saw before I woke up crying, tangled up in my blankets.

I simply pulled in my blankets into a cocoon, shivering for a long time.

{(S)}

Ayaka-neechan had been mending, patching up ripped clothes, and when I asked if I could brush her soft hair, she let me. As I was brushing her hair, I realized that everyone in the village had brown hair. Well, Ayaka-neechan had really dark hair, almost black, but I was the only one with silver hair.

So I asked her why everyone in the village had brown hair, and she said it was because everyone was related to each other.

Ayaka-neechan realized that I was indirectly asking why I had silver hair and told me that my kaa-san had similar hair to mine, only a little darker. She said she didn't know my tou-san's hair color, but it was probably something lighter. She also said that my parents were probably from somewhere far away where that hair color was normal.

Immediately afterwards, I went to oba-san to ask if I was also from a far away place – she looked really surprised at my outburst, but said yes, it was probably true.

She told me my kaa-san was a stranger that came into the village pregnant, and that her last words were for oba-san to take care of me.

So I asked oba-san about my tou-san. I knew that my kaa-san had died, but no one had mentioned my tou-san.

I was very happy in the dream with two parents from yesterday night, so if my tou-san was here, even if it was only the two of us, everything would be a little happier, right?

Oba-san looked sadly at me, and told me she didn't know who my tou-san was. My kaa-san came alone and had passed away while bringing me into the world and didn't have time to say who my tou-san was.

But wouldn't tou-san be looking for me?

Oba-san looked away, then heaved a deep sigh.

She pulled me into a hug and told me that she thought that tou-san had passed away before my kaa-san.

She thought they were both in a place far, far away, up in the sky. They probably became stars to watch over me.

...Why didn't she take me with her?

I couldn't go there until I was very, very old or became very, very sick...?

Maybe kaa-san thought tou-san would be lonely up there in the sky by himself and went to be with him.

…Maybe kaa-san forgot that I might be lonely down here all by myself.

{(S)}

_A Few Weeks Later_

Bandits came and attacked the next-door village yesterday.

No one was hurt, but they took most of the seed money for next year's crops.

Oji-san looked grim after he met the messenger from the attacked village, who was warning the surrounding villages.

He immediately went to the attacked village with some other men to help put out the fires the bandits had started.

When he came back late that evening, ashy and tired, he told us that they were hiring a shinobi team to get rid of the bandits.

Oba-san looked surprised and a little grim, but nodded. Oji-san looked a little relieved when he said they would probably arrive in one or two days.

Shinobi... Oba-san said they were strong warriors who protect us from bad people.

I wonder what they will be like.

... I wonder what part of myself reminds some of the villagers of shinobi.

{(S)}

_A Few Days Later_

Green.

Eye-wateringly green.

He was... very loud.

I didn't need to ask oba-san to know that he was the shinobi we were waiting for.

...Shinobi must not be normal.

If they didn't tell me he was a shinobi, I would have thought he embodied what crazy meant.

But he became strangely quiet when he saw me peeking out from behind of oba-san.

Oh, he was called Maito Gai.

I think I will never forget his his name.

And his clothes.

Ayaka-neechan told me later (with a shudder) that the tight clothes he wore was something called a spandex.

Well, he made me feel uncomfortable with all the staring and loud declarations of 'Delicate Blossom'... even if he was saying nice things.

I ignored almost everything the green man said, simply watching him with weary eyes. He reminded me of a squirrel that had once stolen a whole pouch of candies from me. It had zoomed from place to place, chattering loudly at me and circling the area I had been sitting in, unable to stay still. When I tried to give it water to take it to Doctor Hakke, it bit me and ran away.

...Yes, the spandex-man was almost exactly like the squirrel, starting from those shouts of 'Youth!', the blindingly bright smile, to the constant shifting of movement.

He called me very 'Hip and Cool'. He said I reminded him of someone he knew.

Then he seemed to realize that oji-san was waiting for him to speak, and told him that he had gotten rid of the bandits that attacked and was checking around all the villages with his team and making sure that other bandits didn't try to extinguish our village's 'Flames of Youth!'.

...Yes, he spoke in capitals and exclamation marks.

Well.

...If that's what a shinobi are, I don't think I want to meet another one.

...Why would anyone compare me to him? Shinobi and I had nothing in common.

* * *

Footnotes

Kage: Shadow

Take: Bamboo

Miko: 'Mi'= 'beautiful', 'Ko'= 'child'

Kumiko: 'Ku'= 'long time', 'Mi'= 'beautiful', 'Ko'= 'child'

Oba-san: Aunt or middle-aged woman

Oji-san: Uncle or middle-aged man

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**A/N** \- This story was a one-shot plot bunny of a short scene I had in my head while writing Trouble Finds Me, but it got longer and longer until it didn't seem much like a one-shot...

I highly doubted this story going beyond 5 chapters, but thanks for all the reviews and etc., because they gave me strength/inspiration to continue!

Leave a review to tell me what you think of the story, thank you very much. ;)

Lotsa cyber-love to reviewers/viewers!


	2. Konoha Shinobi

**Previously:**

_Well._

_...If that's what a shinobi are, I don't think I want to meet another one._

_...Why would anyone compare me to him? Shinobi and I had nothing in common._

* * *

**Chapter 2: Konoha Shinobi (Kumiko POV)**

(Posted 2014-08-30, Updated 2015-01-02)

{(S)}

Okay. Maybe ninja are not all loud and strange to look at.

...I think that Maito Gai, the spandex-man, was special – not in a good way.

A ninja came a few days later, saying he had a scroll for oji-san, the mayor.

I heard him talking to oji-san and oba-san, so I peeked behind a door to see what he was like, so to go take a long, _long_ walk in the forest if he was anything like Maito Gai.

This ninja had a green vest like the one Maito Gai had, and dressed similarly, with tight shirt and pants. Well, not as tight as the spandex, but tight enough that there was no flapping bits of cloth. He had brown hair, which was tied down with bandanna that had a metal plate with a swirly symbol on the back.

Strangely, he had a long stick in his mouth.

I sneaked in and hid behind oba-san, but I got the feeling that the ninja saw me. As soon as I caught the ninja's eyes, I ducked and didn't meet his eyes. I continued to peek at him from the corner of my eyes, though.

It was strange how he was so quiet and didn't raise his voice, so I tugged oba-san's kimono and whisper-asked her, "Why is he so quiet?"

Maybe my whisper was louder than I thought, because the ninja gave a chuckle and smiled at me, telling me that I had the misfortune of meeting Gai-san first out of all ninja in the world.

Then he muttered something about how maybe it was actually fortunate that it _was_ Gai, but I didn't hear what he exactly said, so I wasn't sure if that was really what he said.

I gave him a strange look, which he returned with a wink.

This exchange was interrupted by a gasp from above me.

It was oba-san. She had been reading a scroll over oji-san's shoulder.

The scroll had a big fire mark on the outside,and looked pretty serious.

I wonder what it's about...

"Kumiko, please go look for Hakke-sensei, and tell him to come quickly." Oji-san sounded unusually serious. "You know where he is, right?"

"Probably in the herb valley south east from Auntie Yoko's field."

"Yes. If he's not there, come home. He might have gone on his village rounds."

I nodded in understanding and left the house.

{(S)}

Doctor Hakke was in the Tenrai Herbal Valley of Namura.

We called it Tenrai Valley because there was it was literally a herbal garden made by Kami. We didn't need to water it or do anything, it was all self-sufficient. It was our village's most closely guarded secret.

Well, we called it a secret. It was a well-known secret... and only Doctor Hakke and the local wildlife had uses for it anyway, so...

"Ah, hello Kumiko! Good morning. Is something wrong?"

"Good morning Hakke-sensei. No one's hurt, but Oji-san wanted me to get you. He said to get you quickly."

"I see. We'll have to hurry then, ne? Could you being over my herb basket that's over there?"

I didn't say anything, bringing the said basket to him.

As he quickly collected his herb bunches and placed them in the basket, I took a deep whiff. Freshly cut herbs smelled the best.

"Why don't we play the guessing game while we walk back?" He said as he took the basket, starting to walk in the direction of the village. "No peeking!"

I looked up at Hakke-sensei, my eyes bright with humor and a faint smile on my lips.

"Well, Kumiko? What do you think? What herbs are in the basket?"

At his insistence, I took a deep whiff towards the basket then listed the herbs I smelled. "Rosemary, clover, lavender, sage, peppermint, and... a jasmine flower?"

There was a flash of bewilderment and surprise at the last one, which quickly turned to amusement. He took out the said flower from his pocket.

"Huh. I had forgotten about the flower." At my questioning look, he explained, "I felt like pressing the flower into my medical journal because it smelt so bitter," He sniffed appreciatively at the jasmine flower. "But I would never have guessed that you would be able to smell it from my pocket!"

He ruffled my hair. "Kumiko, you must have a dog for an ancestor or something. Your sense of smell is truly amazing!"

I shuffled my feet and looked away, a small tint of pink dusting my cheeks.

"How can you tell the differentiate the smells between the ones in the basket and the ones that are around us? I can only smell the peppermint and lavender, that sage plant over there," He sniffed the air, then shook his head ruefully. "And just a general plant smell."

I glanced up at him and looked away again, even more embarrassed. "... The ones in the basket smells more fresh and... juicier. The ones that are planted don't have a watery smell like the ones in the basket." In a smaller voice, I added, "and you usually smell like Oolong tea and yarrow, not jasmine."

I peered up at Hakke-sensei to see his reaction, hoping that I didn't do something too unexpected – I caught the tail end of the shocked expression that turned into amazement as I watched.

"Kumiko! You really have a great sense of smell! I always thought you won in our guessing games because you recognized the herbs you were saw in the basket!"

By this time we had reached the house, and the ninja, who was waiting for us outside along with oba-san and oji-san, heard his remark. The ninja was looking at me with an semi-familiar expression. A look as if something was he had guessed was confirmed.

Oji-san cleared his throat to get my attention. "Kumiko, could you go and start hanging Hakke-sensei's herbs in the medicine shack?"

"... Okay." I suspected something was up when he sent me to get the doctor, but oji-san's actions just now all but confirmed that the ninja was here about me.

Is it something bad...?

I stopped in front of oba-san and looked up at her. "...Did I do something wrong?"

Oba-san - and oji-san somewhat - looked surprised and slightly guilty.

"Oh, no, Kumiko. The adults need to have a short talk before we tell you about something. Run along now. We'll call you back in as soon as we are done."

I gave her a long look, then nodded.

"...Okay." I said in a small voice.

{(S)}

Later, it was Hakke-sensei who called me back.

He had a sad look on his face.

"Hakke-sensei?"

"...Kumiko."

He ruffled my hair.

"I... well. It seems that..." He gave a small sigh. "... I will let your oba-san and oji-san tell you."

I simply nodded.

I tried not to betray my nervousness, though my clenched fingers must have been telling.

{(S)}

"Kumiko."

I stared up at oji-san attentively, telling him silently that I was listening.

"This shinobi is here with a request from the Hokage."

"Hokage?"

"... the leader of the shinobi village of Konoha."

"... Ko... noha?"

Oji-san nodded gravely. "It's a village in the Fire Country where the Shinobi live."

I waited patiently for an explanation of what that had to do with me, blinking at oji-san.

"Well..." Oji-san flailed his hands. He looked helplessly at the shinobi-san.

The shinobi stepped up from where he was leaning against the wall, then crouched in front of me. "Kumiko-chan, the Hokage suspects that you are related to someone in the village... She would like you to move to Konoha, to make sure if it is true, and to help protect you if you are."

He paused, seeing my confused expression, then clarified. "This person you might be related to is a very important person to the village. You resemble him, which increases the risks of you getting hurt, being mistaken for his relative."

I looked towards oji-san and oba-san.

Oba-san, who always seemed to know exactly what I wanted, came close and wrapped me in a hug.

I pulled her tightly to myself, and asked in a small voice, "Do I have to go?"

"Kumiko. Look at me, please?"

I looked at her. She had a happy smile for me, though her eyes were sad.

"Do you remember the stranger a while ago, that was passing through our village? The one that was mean to Ayaka-chan? Do you remember how many uncles it took before the stranger left Ayaka-chan alone and left the village?"

I nodded, answering with a low voice. "Four. Uncle Roba, Uncle Saijin, Uncle Doruki, Uncle Fuuto."

She gave a gusty sigh. "Many people like that bad man, who are much stronger, too, may come to this village for you."

Why? They... don't want me here anymore? The pain of being rejected must have been clear in my eyes, for oba-san flinched when she met my eyes.

"Kumiko. You must understand. We still want you here, but it is very dangerous for you to stay here. The shinobi-san here told us that you look so much like this person in Konoha that you may be kidnapped by bad people who want revenge on him, even though you are not related."

I was confused again... Kidnapped... I think I knew what that meant, but...

"Kidnapped means taken away by the bad people for money."

Oh.

"Kumiko, as much as I wish you can stay with us, if these bad people ever come here, even with all your uncles fighting together we will not be able to protect you or chase the bad men away."

I looked down, simply voicing a small 'oh' to show my understanding.

"Also, Kumiko... it is a rule in Fire Country that you have to live with your family relatives unless the relatives are really bad."

I tuned out her explanation after that tidbit of information.

I didn't know that... Did this mean that she.. they... already knew I was going to be taken away sooner or later? I peered up at oba-san from under my eyelashes.

Did she really mean it when she wanted me to stay?

I knew she was not my kaa-san. She almost was for me... though... did she think of herself as my kaa-san, too?

Oba-san had stopped talking. I started paying attention again, to find everyone looking at me for my reaction.

I swallowed my nervousness at the attention, and asked the first question that seemed the most important, as it seemed nothing would change the decision that I had to leave.

"Do I have to leave right now...?"

Oba-san's eyes widened for a moment, looking at me in surprise and... hurt? Before I could figure out what I said wrong, she averted her eyes from me and turned to the shinobi. I followed her gaze to see the man thinking.

Before I could peer back at oba-san's eyes to check exactly what I had seen, the ninja interrupted my thoughts.

"It was recommended to allow you a few hours to say goodbye... but I don't see why we can't leave tomorrow morning, bright and early."

I felt my heart clench. I only had the rest of the afternoon and evening to stay with my family.

Oba-san smiled at me, but I could tell it was mostly insincere, hiding another emotion behind it. Before I could ask her what I did wrong, she turned away again, declaring, "There will be plenty of time to have a very nice dinner, then!"

She then proceeded to tell the news to everyone in the village, leaving me with a guilty feeling that I did something wrong... though I didn't know what.

{(S)}

By dinnertime, everyone had heard the news. They all brought together some food with what little there was to spare, and it became a very long, informal family potluck dinner. I want to say it was a happy dinner, but there was an atmosphere of gloom hiding just under the soft laughter.

Too soon, everyone started leaving in preparation for the next day's work that started early in the morning. All of them wished me well, many giving me long hugs and fond pats.

I didn't know how I gained their affections, for I was pretty sure I kept outward affectionate behavior only for oba-san, oji-san, and maybe Hakke-sensei. I wasn't exactly... outgoing or social, either.

I spent the rest of the night packing with oba-san and oji-san. There wasn't much to pack besides clothes, because I didn't have many toys that I liked to play with; I always went outside to play. I kept trying to ask oba-san what I had done wrong, but there wasn't a chance to talk to her. It almost seemed like she was... avoiding me.

All too soon, I was tucked into bed. Before I could form the question of what I had done wrong, she quickly gave me a goodnight kiss and told me to go to sleep, for the shinobi-san had said that I would need a lot of energy for the trip tomorrow.

After that, sleep was out of the question. I was at a loss to what I had done wrong to prompt oba-san into acting so distant with me. She was still loving, but all evening she had barely spoken to me, giving only terse answers.

I toyed with the idea of going to her and asking, I had been thinking for a while and a glance at the clock showed that it was long past the time oba-san and oji-san went to bed, so I gave up on the idea.

The next few hours were spent tossing and turning on my bed, trying to forget my worries and fears about leaving and going to sleep.

Did... I do something wrong? Did oba-san and oji-san really not want me? Did they just take me in because they were ready to give me up?

Maybe... Oba-san is just feeling really sad about me leaving... so to hide her sadness from me, she didn't talk to me.

When a flicker of doubt, whether oba-san and oji-san would want me to stay appeared, I immediately chased it out.

Of course oba-san and oji-san wanted me to stay! They took care of me until now... I'm sure they would have told me about the whole not-being-able-to-keep me soon, and would have adopted me...

...right?

These thoughts kept circling around in my head. The worst part of it was, I couldn't answer the questions with full confidence at all.

Tomorrow... Tomorrow, I was going somewhere where oba-san, oji-san, Doctor Hakke, Ayake-neechan, and everyone I grew up around... were not.

I... couldn't ask them to come with me... they had to prepare for the planting season that started this month.

I really wanted to stay.

But... I knew they... couldn't hire shinobi... or some kind of bodyguards... just for me. It was better for me to take up the Hokage's free offer of protection.

We barely got by with what we earned; sometimes, it was not enough. But we were content with what we had, for even if we were not well-off, we were a close family.

My thoughts kept going in circles, never coming to a satisfactory conclusion.

After a long time mulling things over, I couldn't bear my thoughts anymore. I quickly sat up and got out of bed. I headed for oba-san and oji-san's room, thinking to cuddle up next to them. They probably wouldn't mind.

I tiptoed towards their room at the end of the hall, thinking to slip in between them on the bed.

But... they were not asleep as I thought they would be.

My hand had reached for the doorknob, about to grab it to turn when a soft sobbing behind the door made me pause and listen.

"... am I supposed to just let her go? I watched her grow up! Fed her, bathed her! Changed her diapers! Watched her crawl, watched her walk, watched her run and play!"

Heart-wrenching sobbing. Oba-san.

"Shh...shh... I know, love, I know. You'll wake Kumiko. Shh..."

"... All those years of praying... pleading to Inari-Okami to bless us with a young one... But... every time... still-born... miscarriages... o-oh, my poor children, being cursed to come to this failure of a mother!"

There was a muffled sound of rustling of blankets. There was a steady sound of someone rubbing someone's back. Oji-san.

She continued her distressed weeping. "I could never give you... I thought... I thought I deserved to die! What use am I as your wife, when I cannot provide you the joys of fatherhood? A useless mother, one who can't stay h-healthy enough to bear children?"

"Yuuna...shh... you are not useless. You are my beloved wife. It was not your fault our children couldn't stay with us. I love you; I don't care if you can't give me children." He paused, and there was a sound of a soft kiss. "...Inari-Okami-sama will give us younglings when it is time."

There was only the soft crying of oba-san and low rumbling of oji-san's wordless murmuring for a long time.

I did not know what to do. Go back to bed and pretend that I didn't see anything? Go in, climb into the bed with them and try to comfort oba-san with oji-san?

The sobbing again turned into distressed weeping and muttering which grew louder and louder until it became loud enough to decipher.

"...not fair! When that woman looked at me, _ordered_ me to take care of her child... I thought... I thought it had been Inari-Okami's blessing for all those years of prayers! A child! Itsuki... I... I..."

"Shh...I know, Yuuna... I know..."

More muffled sobbing. I felt my heart break for my oba-san. She had been always so patient with me, even when I was stoic and didn't express my love for her as openly...

I... felt... guilty for calling her oba-san... I had never seen her cry before.

I had taken my time to speak my first word, keeping silent even when I knew how to speak. When I did speak, it had been in a perfect sentence, telling oba-san that I was hungry.

And... before I could speak, every other night oba-san had told me the story of how my kaa-san had been injured and had given me to her to take care of... So... I had logically chosen the honorific of oba-san, for I understood from the story that my 'kaa-san' was gone.

How I must have broken her heart by calling her oba-san, when she had treated me as a mother would a child...

The sobbing from the other room grew louder again.

"Then... then... she just accepts that she is leaving! Did you hear what she said? 'Do I have to leave right now'?"

Oji-san was murmuring something soothingly to her as a fresh round of weeping started.

"It-Itsuki! D-did I not l-love her enough? Does s-she w-want to leave me? Does she n-not l-love me? What d-did I do wr-wrong?"

I... I...

I had to set this straight. I did not _want _to go; I just thought there was no other option...

Stepping closer to the door, I turned the doorknob and was about to open the door when oji-san's voice stopped me.

"My love... Jizo must have given her to us, knowing we would care for her until she was ready to go on in her journey. She must be ready to go now."

What? ...Ready to go?

Oba-san's sobbing continued, no sign of it calming down anytime soon.

"Shh... shh... We can always try again, Yuuna. Another child. Our child this time."

I felt as if my heart had stopped. Their child? ...They weren't satisfied with me?

Oji-san's calm voice continued on, uncaring that it had just destroyed what little confidence I had of them wanting me to stay.

"Benzaiten will not stand by watching Futsushi playing around with our hearts and emotions all these years. Inari-Okami, also, is not so cruel to ignore all your years of praying every morning."

At that, I felt a phantom pain in my heart. Oba-san prayed to a shrine placed at the corner of the living room every morning. I never asked for what, assuming it was for an abundant harvest and protection from bandits.

...A child of her own? Everyday?

In the end, I was not... their real daughter. I was a stand-in, _practice_ for the child of their own.

I... never treated them like my parents, either, which probably made them want their own child even more.

They... were going to... try to... get a real family... now that I was going away. A replacement for what small part of their life I filled.

Releasing the doorknob as silently as I could, I went back to my cold bed, my heart heavy.

It was a long night, that night.

* * *

Footnotes

Tenrai Herbal Valley: Divine Herbal Valley

Inari-Okami: Shinto goddess of rice and fertility.

Jizo: Buddhist god. Protector of the vulnerable, especially children, travelers, and women in childbirth.

Benzaiten: One of the Seven Lucky Gods. Goddess of everything that flows (speech, eloquence, music). Bestows good fortune.

Futsushi: Trickster god.

* * *

**A/N** \- Not much to say about this chapter...

Lots of cyber-love to those who Read 'n Review.


	3. Shiranui Genma and Konoha (Kumiko POV)

**Previously:**

_In the end, I was not... their real daughter. I was a stand-in, _practice_ for the child of their own._

_I... never treated them like my parents, either, which probably made them want their own child even more._

_They... were going to... try to... get a real family... now that I was going away. A replacement for what small part of their life I filled._

_Releasing the doorknob as silently as I could, I went back to my cold bed, my heart heavy._

_It was a long night, that night._

* * *

**Chapter 3: Genma Shiranui and Konohagakure (Kumiko POV)**

(Posted 2014-10-03, Updated 2014-01-02)

{(S)}

The next morning at dawn, everyone came to see me off.

I couldn't help but notice oba-san and oji-san's dark bags under their eyes and oba-san's slightly swollen eyes.

Oba-san seemed to have gotten over my 'rejection' of her yesterday. She had simply apologized for her actions, saying that she had been simply sad that I had to go.

I was about to say that I was sad I had to go, too, but the colder, more logical side of me stopped it before the words made it past my lips.

Let her believe that I really did reject her.

Let oji-san persuade her that Jizo really was taking me away, now that I am ready.

She will forget me anyway when she gets her own child.

Also... perhaps it _was_ time for me to go onwards in my journey.

There must be a reason for the dreams I've been having.

Hopefully Inari-Okami really will provide them with a son or daughter who I could never be.

When I started tuning into my surroundings again, we were at the edges of the village.

Oba-san gave me tearful kisses and tight hugs. Oji-san ruffled my hair and a short hug as well.

"You can come back anytime, okay, Kumiko?"

I simply looked up at them and gave them a small smile.  
"Okay."

But I won't come back, because it is only right to give them a chance to have that child they wanted. I could never fill that spot, even if they loved me to bits. I would only be in the way of their happiness.

I looked around back at the villagers who had gathered to see me off.

...Hakke-sensei was not there.

I felt a little disappointed, but I supposed that he was busy. Perhaps he was called to another village: he was the only doctor for five villages, so there may have been an emergency.

I turned towards the shinobi-san, ready to go.

"Wait, wait!"

It was Hakke-sensei.

"Hakke-sensei. You came." I hoped that my eyes were expressing my relief enough, because even to my ears, my voice sounded cold and uncaring.

He was catching his breath, huffing and puffing; he held out a small package out to me.

Taking it, I looked down at it curiously, slowly unfolding the wrapped-up cloth.

It was a small scented pouch with dried petals of jasmine, pansies and sweet pea blossoms*****.

Together, the three blended scents made an amazing smell.

"...Sorry I was almost late," He said as he caught his breath. "I thought you would like something to remember the village and valley by, and looking for a pretty pouch took a bit longer than I thought."

I gazed up at him, and gave him a quiet thank you, giving him a quick hug. I whispered into his ear, "Please help oba-san and oji-san get a child of their own, okay?"

I then turned without looking at him towards oba-san and oji-san, giving them a short nod each, mumbling a 'thank you for taking care of me all these years' towards their general direction.

Stepping back, there was a sense of finality when I said goodbye for the last time.

"...Goodbye, oba-san, oji-san."

When I met the hurt and disappointed looks on oba-san and oji-san's face, I really wished I could simply run back to them and plead to them to let me stay in the village. That I would be a great daughter, calling them kaa-san and tou-san instead. That I wouldn't mind being an older sister to siblings. That I would cut off and even shave my hair to blend into the village.

But I couldn't. By staying, I would be placing them into danger.

... And somehow, I had a feeling that they would get the biological child they always wanted soon.

Call it a sixth-sense, but I had no doubt that they would have another child after I left. But for the child to come, I had to get out of the way.

Perhaps it was Jizo guiding me on in my life's path, working with Inari-Okami to help oba-san and oji-san to form a wonderful and loving family.

So I did my best to keep my face impassive even while seeing their sadness.

I bowed deeply, murmuring again, "Thank you for taking care of me."

As I turned away, I felt the burning of my eyes from tears about to fall.

I hid them the best I could. My tears may change their minds about letting me go, but doing so would mean they would be giving up their chance of getting a real family.

"Goodbye." I barely heard oba-san's reply, her voice soft.

The shinobi by this time had turned and crouched, showing his back to me, his face turned halfway to check that I understood the gesture. He did not react to my watery eyes, which I was thankful for.

I climbed onto his back, hugging his neck tightly. My sight started blurring even further, and I hid the overflowing tears on shinobi-san's vest.

I will not look back, because then my careful mask of indifference will break.

I will not look back, because if I see oba-san's and oji-san's face full of hurt one more time, I will not be able to leave.

I will not look back, because... because...

I felt the shinobi jumping, the wind whipping by my ears.

Only after about a minute of traveling this way, I looked back and whispered to the wind.

"...I will miss you."

{(S)}

Later, we stopped to eat a short breakfast in a small clearing.

I think the shinobi tried to cheer me up by talking about great places in Konoha. He was currently talking about a ramen place called Ichiraku's.

... Also... I take back that this shinobi was not strange. The thing he had in is mouth... it was a giant metal needle.

Won't he get hurt? Oba-san and all the other adults told me to never go around with sharp things in my mouth because I can hurt myself if I fall down... But... This shinobi...

Either the needle - no, toothpick - is a fake metal-look-a-like, or he is insanely good at not falling down and stabbing himself with the toothpick...

Oba-san did say that shinobi were warriors... But did that mean warriors never thought deeply about their safety?

...That... actually might be true? Just yesterday I had a dream where I had a older brother who was a soldier... that's a kind of warrior, right? He was always breathing in smoke through a cigarette, which was known to kill you slowly and painfully.

Hmm, how did he explain it again...?

(000)

_I found myself walking out of a building towards a small alley to the right, near the fire escapes._

_"Hey, Ray, are you going to stay here for the rest of your visit? It's been ages since I saw you."_

_A young man with an army buzz cut and leather jacket was leaning against the wall under the fire escape. He puffed on a cigarette, silently gazing up at the dreary sky._

_"...Ray?"_

_"Maddie, I'm going to volunteer for the war effort."_

_"...But you didn't even graduate from the military academy! There's at least a year before you're ready for war!"_

_"The academy was just to get away from _them_. Legally, I am old enough. This war... I don't think it's going to stay in Germany."_

_"... So, you're going to leave me here, again? With _them_?"_

_"I know, I know. It's just that sometimes you've got to think beyond your own life, you know? Learning how to protect in a long-term fashion?"_

_"... I don't like it. I really don't like it. Ray, please, for me? Can't you change your mind? Something about you going off again so soon is making me nervous. As if... as if I had some sort of sixth sense that you're going straight into the heart of danger..."_

_There was a brief silence, then a short guffaw from Ray ended what serious mood there was._

_"Sixth sense? Maddie, I thought you were the one who always argues about the supernatural, employing statistics and logic! To refer to a bad feeling to try and convince me... Yikes, you must be really worried."_

_"..."_

_"But Maddie, I need to go. There aren't many with military training, and this war needs all the help it can have."_

_I stayed silent, wishing that he wasn't so right all the time._

_After a long pause, Ray, my dear big brother, quietly spoke again._

_"Sis, you know why I started up smoking?"_

_I looked at him, not knowing why he brought this up now, of all times._

_When asked, he would always jokingly say smoking made him look cool, with that stupid, roguish, lovable smirk on his face._

_...And damn was he right. He probably inspired half of the boys in my age group to start up smoking._

_"We have such short lives, Maddie. I'm almost in my twenties, but I've seen almost half of all my academy seniors die from this stupid war."_

_He took a long drag from his cigarette and puffed out._

_"Even without the war, humans have such short lives... average of 60 years, Maddie. I've already lived out almost one third of my life. I want to live without regrets, and whether that be to discover the joys of the exquisite taste of alcohol or taste-testing the subtle nuances of cigarettes... anyway, living life to the fullest. As long as I'm not addicted, I think there's joy to be gotten from the various experiences of life."_

(000)

The sudden pause in background noise brought me back to the real world, and I found myself staring back at the shinobi-san, who seemed to be waiting for an answer.

Shrugging, I looked away. From the corner of my eye, I saw him smirk, then start doing tricks with his over-sized toothpick.

What was I thinking about again?

The shinobi-san threw the toothpick into the air with his mouth and caught it after it flipped several times in the air.

Ah, right, the toothpick.

Could it be that as shinobi, warriors, they also believe that life is short, so they should live life to the fullest? So the shinobi-san keeps a dangerous object in his mouth as a constant reminder that life is short?

I was interrupted from my reflections when the shinobi-san cleared his throat loudly.

Looking at him questioningly, I simply tilted my head a little to the side, nonverbally prompting him to repeat himself.

"I realize that I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Shiranui Genma. I'm a tokubetsu jonin, which means..."

I watched the giant metal toothpick moving up and down with shinob- I mean, Shiranui-san's mouth. It was fascinating how even the biggest mouth movements did not dislodge the dangerously pointy object.

My curiosity finally won out my polite side. I couldn't help it. I interrupted his chatter - something about favorite vegetables and pumpkins - and asked,

"Do you have something big stuck between your teeth? Why do you keep a toothpick with you all the time?"

"...?!" It was clear from his expression that he was not expecting my outburst.

I simply pointed at the toothpick.

His gaze followed my finger, and he pointed his own to see exactly where I was pointing.

For a moment there was nothing but silence while I waited for an answer.

His mouth started twitching, but I only had a short at his face before he suddenly turned away from me and covered his mouth, his shoulders and his body shaking violently.

I was immediately on alert, going to him and reaching for his hand. It twitched violently in my hands before going limp. I ignored it and took his pulse, which was jumping around erratically.

_Paralysis? But there shouldn't be any paralytic herbs nearby..._

I looked for the paralytic herb, for usually the antidote was found in its roots.

Shiranui-san spoke, his voice lilting up in a question."...What are you doing, Kumiko-chan?"

"Looking for the source of paralysis. Hakke-sensei said usually the antidote was found in the roots of the paralytic." I searched under the nearby bushes, and between the roots of the trees.

"There doesn't seem to be any paralytic herbs... Shiranui-san, do you have a type of chronic illness with seizures? Have you ever had seizures before, or was this the first one?"

The man's silence made me look up from my search for the illusive herb.

He was quite still, staring at me with an unreadable look on his face.

"...Shiranui-san?"

"How do you know about paralytic herbs?"

"...Hakke-sensei told me. There were certain types of herbs I had to look out for if I wanted to play at Tenrai valley."

Shiranui-san looked very surprised, but shifted his expression to a more milder one before he answered. "Aa... well, I'm not in paralysis, and no, I do not have chronic seizures. I just... remembered something very funny."

I blinked at him, nodding slowly to show that I understood. I thought back to what we had been doing, but couldn't find anything humorous about it. "You are very strange, Shiranui-san. Not as strange as Maito-san, but strange, all the same."

He turned quite pale at that. He immediately started shaking his head, as if to rid himself of an image. "Umm, Kumiko-chan, you can call me Genma... And Maito Gai... is just a special kind of shinobi. You shouldn't compare every shinobi with him, okay?"

I nodded once to show my understanding, though inwardly I wondered why carrying something sharp in one's mouth was considered less strange than shouting and being loud and energetic was.

"Ready to go on?"

Absentmindedly nodding, I stepped towards him, climbing up his proffered back.

We started off again, silently whipping past the thick branches of the canopy.

{(S)}

Later, when we were stopping for lunch, I asked one of the questions that had been bothering me since I climbed onto his back.

"So, what is that symbol thing on the metal plate on the back of your head?"

"Oh, this is called a hitai-ate. The symbol... isn't it obviously a leaf? A swirly one?"

He turned his head slightly to show me the symbol.

I squinted at the symbol, trying to see the leaf. I tried tilting my head a little. I still couldn't see it, but decided to humor him.

"...Aa."

Genma-san looked aghast. "How could you NOT see that this is a leaf? ...What did you think it was anyway?"

A pause.

"...a snail...?"

Genma-san facepalmed.

I didn't say anything back. Maybe I needed glasses like the one oji-san used for reading? Genma-san gave me a weak but reassuring smile that I took to mean 'It's okay'.

"...Anyway, this hitai-ate is a symbol to show that you have come of age and are willing to take up responsibilities of the village as a shinobi."

"Oh."

We finished the meal in silence, wordlessly getting up when we were finished. He took me up on his back again, and I decided to try and take a short nap, as he held me securely enough that I didn't fall.

{(S)}

_Kumiko: Afternoon, Konoha Gates_

Genma-san's stop in movement jerked me awake.

"Kumiko-chan, we're here."

I dazedly looked around me in confusion, until I realized I was in front of a gigantic gate that said 'safety' on it, with a smaller swirly 'leaf' symbol and 'shinobi' kanji sign on top.

It was really, really big.

He let me down, and we started to walk into the village.

I couldn't help but gawk at the huge buildings and the number of people bustling about.

A huge mountain with five faces could be seen, all looking down on the village with a serious expression. The first four were men, the first on the left with long hair and the three in the middle with spiky, sticking up hair, and the last one on the right was a woman with a diamond on her forehead.

"Yo, Genma!"

"Welcome back, Genma."

I was distracted from my gawking at the mountain and village by the greetings that came from my left. It was from two men who were sitting in a sort of guard house next to the gates.

Both men wearing hitai-ates were grinning in our direction, waving to Genma-san.

Genma-san waved back. "Kotetsu, Izumo. Check me in, would you? I'm slightly running late for a meeting with Tsunade-sama."

"Of course, go on ahead."

I looked at them and back at Genma-san.

Their hitai-ate was on their foreheads... while Genma-san's were on the back of his head.

Now that I thought about it, didn't Maito-san have his hitai-ate on his waist? Maybe if shinobi wore the hitai-ate in a place other than their forehead, it showed that the said person was slightly crazy...?

"Let's go, Kumiko-chan." Genma-san held out his hand for me to take.

I put aside the thought for further pondering later, taking his hand.

"We're not going to fly-run like you did on the way here?"

"...Nah, I feel like walking so I can save up chakra for a short mission later."

I waited for him to clarify, but he was oblivious to my confusion of the word.

I sighed, then asked, "...What's chakra?"

He blinked and cast a side-long glance at me. He then explained slowly.

"Chakra is a sort of mixed energy of spiritual and physical energy. Both can be found in everyone, both civilians and shinobi, but shinobi train to mix the spiritual and physical energy, creating chakra. Chakra is the energy needed to use jutsus and speed and strength enhancements."

He paused to check if I wanted to hear more, only to find I was paying him very close attention. Looking at me with a thoughtful expression, he continued.

"In most cases, chakra has a blue color, to those who can see it. I believe yours _may_ be white, which only one family in Konoha is known to have. A family trait only seen by one family is something called a Kekkei-Gekkai around here. If you do have white chakra, then it's definite proof that you are related to one of our elite ninja, because the only known Kekkei-Genkai of white chakra is found in Konoha."

I nodded in understanding and wondered what the difference between white chakra and regular blue color was.

The rest of the trip was spent with Genma-san pointing out good restaurants and some landmarks in Konoha. I stayed quiet observing people bustling about the many colorful shops.

After about ten minutes or so, we reached a giant red building with a huge kanji of 'fire' on the roof.

"Here Kumiko-chan, take my other hand as well. I'm going to jump pretty high and I don't want you to fall."

I took the offered hand, then felt myself almost flying up to the big window at the top of the building. It was amazing, better than the feeling in the forest. Going straight up into the sky instead of running along the branches... fly-jumping seemed much cooler than fly-running.

Then Genma-san was crouching on the windowsill, holding me carefully so I didn't need to land on the windowsill as well.

I turned to him to ask if I could learn how to do that too, when something that looked like a small white cup flew past my face out the window.

"Shiranui, what did I say about coming through the window? One more strike and you get demoted to C-ranks for the rest of the month!"

A beautiful blond woman was rubbing at her eyes, clearly exasperated. She was wearing... something that made her chest look very big...

Genma-san carefully lowered himself from the sill, apologizing with a rueful smile on his face. "Sorry, Tsunade-sama. I forgot again."

She scowled, glaring at Genma-san. I hid behind his leg, peeking out to watch her.

"Report, Shiranui."

"Mission accomplished. I just wanted to check with you before taking her to the hospital for the blood test."

She found me hiding behind his legs. Her sharp gaze softened, and she greeted me.

"Hello there. I'm Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage. Or you may know me as the person who asked you to come to Konoha. What is your name?"

I slowly stepped out from behind Genma-san's legs and gave a tentative bow.

"My name is Tanaka Kumiko."

"Hm. There _does_ seem to be an uncanny similarity between you and that sorry excuse of a ninja." She snorted. "I'm still waiting for him; he was due an hour ago. Promise to be punctual, hmph. Asking me to stop gambling would have a better chance at succeeding." She muttered something about upstart brats better be taking up the job soon, or there _would_. _be_. _consequences_.

She looked up at us again to find us sweat-dropping, and made a shooing motion with her hand.

"Alright, Shiranui, off to the hospital. And use the door next time or I will show you exactly how high you need to be to touch the clouds. Am I clear?"

"H-hai, Hokage-sama."

She turned to me and gave me a small smile.

"Tanaka Kumiko, welcome to Konoha."

I gave her a small smile back.

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

{(S)}

_Kumiko: Late Afternoon, Hospital and Inuzuka Compound_

The big white hospital building had a lot of people, but I supposed they were expecting me, because I was led to one of the offices on the second floor right away.

I did something called a medical checkup with a really nice, pink-haired doctor. Her name was Sakura.

She explained what she was doing each step, telling me when it would hurt and what something was supposed to feel like.

She took down information like my age, weight, height and many other information that I didn't understand.

When we finished, she gave me a lollipop. I got a purple one, which turned out to be grape-flavored. She patted me on the head, saying I was a really good patient.

I waved goodbye to her as I was led out by a nurse.

Outside in the hallway, instead of Genma-san, there was a stranger waiting for me. The nurse explained that this person was to guide me to the family I would be staying with until a more permanent place could be set up for me.

He was really quiet when moving and didn't say anything at all. His face was hidden by the high collar of his coat as well as a hood that covered most of his dark brown hair. The most memorable part of him was his sunglasses, which was almost the only part of his face that I could see.

I quietly followed him to a big walled-in area where dogs were barking loudly inside.

At a short distance away from the gates, the silent shinobi suddenly stopped under a tree and spoke.

"Kiba, come out now. Why? Because your temporary charge has arrived."

There was a thump of two somethings landing behind me, followed immediately by a male voice.

"Aww, Shino, you're no fun! I totally wanted to surprise the kid!"

I turned to find that another male shinobi had landed behind me with a giant white dog. He had short spiky brown hair and two red triangles on his cheeks. The white dog had brown floppy ears and a long fluffy tail... it looked really cute!

I was distracted from my canine admiration by the bantering of the two shinobi.

"That is a very bad idea. Why? Because she is a civilian, and she has already had a lot of surprises, coming from a small -"

"Alright, alright, I get it. No surprising the civilian."

"Bark!"

I looked back and forth between them. They looked to be really good friends.

When the two forgot about me for a while, arguing about the merits of using a prank to introduce oneself, the giant white, fluffy-looking dog came up to me and gave me a tentative sniff.

I stood still, a little scared because it was taller than me... But inwardly, I kind of wished that the dog would come close enough for me to touch. Its coat looked so silky...

The dog came closer until I could feel its breath on my face. My eyes were burning from wanting to blink, but I couldn't take my eyes off of the furry animal.

I slowly moved my hand towards the dog, trying not to make sudden movements.

Reaching forward slowly, I laid a hand on the dog's neck.

Tentatively, I started stroking it from the neck down, because the head was too high to reach comfortably.

It was so soft!

I raised my other hand to rub against the fur.

I lost myself in petting the dog, hugging the warm animal tightly to myself. Only after someone cleared their throat did I realize I was practically hugging the life out of the dog.

I quickly let go, though I still kept one hand on its soft fur, stroking gently.

The nii-san with the triangular tattoos on his face laughed. "Kid, I think you'll have a blast staying with us."

The other nii-san who was all covered up pushed his sunglasses higher on his nose and commented, "You will like staying in the Inuzuka compound. Why? It is a compound full of nin-dogs and pup-"

But before he could finish, the triangle-marked nii-san interrupted, "Let's go introduce you to my kaa-san!"

I felt something underneath me, and when I looked down, it was to find that I was riding the giant white dog.

I saw from the corner of my eye the quiet sunglasses nii-san who kept getting interrupted being left behind, so I waved at him as a quick thank you. I thought I saw his hand rising to wave back, but the dog had entered the gates and I couldn't see him anymore.

I turned around to face the front again to find an area full of dogs, big and small, young and old.

I don't know why, but the nii-san started chuckling when he looked back at me, following him on his dog.

* * *

Footnotes

Jizo: Buddhist god. Protector of the vulnerable, especially children, travelers, and women in childbirth.

Inari-Okami: Shinto goddess of rice and fertility.

Tokubetsu Jonin: Special Jonin, or the level between Chunin and Jonin.

Hitai-ate: Forehead Protector

Kekkei-Genkai: Bloodline Limit

Other General Background Information:

_Flower meanings:_ Jasmine - grace and elegance; Pansy - loving thoughts; Sweet pea - delicate pleasure or bliss symbolic of departure after a good time

* * *

**A/N** \- Sweet pea smells really, really nice.

Thank you guys sooo much for upping the view counts~ I was(and still is) really encouraged by the views and reviews!

Lots of cyber-love to everyone~


	4. Strong, Intelligent, Adorable(Genma POV)

*As this is the same scene as _Chapter 3: Genma Shiranui and Konohagakure_ (only from a different POV), feel free to skip this chapter.

* * *

**Previously:**

_The nii-san with the triangular tattoos on his face laughed. "Kid, I think you'll have a blast staying with us."_

_The other nii-san who was all covered up pushed his sunglasses higher and commented, "You will like staying in the Inuzuka compound. Why? It is a compound full of nin-dogs and pup-"_

_But before he could finish, the triangle-marked nii-san interrupted, "Let's go introduce you to my kaa-san!"_

_I felt something underneath me, and when I looked down, it was to find that I was riding the giant white dog._

_I saw from the corner of my eye the quiet sunglasses nii-san that kept getting interrupted being left behind, so I waved back at him as a quick thank you. I thought I saw his hand rising to wave back, but the dog had entered the gates and I couldn't see him anymore._

_I turned around to face the front again to find an area full of dogs, big and small, young and old._

_I don't know why, but the nii-san started chuckling when he looked back at me, following him on his dog._

* * *

**Chapter 4: Strong, Intelligent, and.. Ad..or..able... (Genma's POV)**

(Posted 2014-10-24, Updated 2015-01-02)

{(S)}

When Genma had wanted a small C-rank mission to test his newly-healed leg, he was not expecting such an... emotional mission.

Genma arrived in the Obake woods after a day of traveling the ninja-way. He started heading north towards the small village inside; it had only been two days since Gai was last in this area.

He couldn't help but snort at the mission scroll as he checked who to deliver the message scroll to. Namura 'village'... it wasn't, really. More like several farmhouses stuck closely to one another.

Ah, well. On with the mission.

It was easy enough to find the mayor's house and give the message scroll to the mayor himself. He and his wife, Itsuki and Yuuna Tanaka, were supposed to be the foster parents of the suspected child.

After explaining to them that he had a message for them from the Hokage, Genma patiently waited while they started to read the letter. He had noticed a flash of silver from the doorway as he was providing his credentials to prove he was really from Konoha. He watched the flash of silver, to find that it was the hair of a little girl; probably the girl of the mission. While the mayor and his wife were in the middle of reading the message, the silver-haired little girl sneaked into the room and hid behind the mayor's wife.

She did bear close resemblance to Kakashi... If Genma knew exactly what Kakashi looked like beneath his mask.

The girl peered curiously at him, obviously trying to be subtle... but how subtle can a five-year-old get?

Then she had the bright idea of whispering to her foster mother, asking why the shinobi was so quiet.

After momentary confusion trying to figure out why being 'quiet' was a surprising trait of shinobi, Genma realized that in the little girl's short life, the only shinobi she had came across was Maito Gai.

So he laughed.

"Kid, all shinobi are quiet. You just had the misfortune of meeting Maito Gai first out of all the shinobi in the world."

Then he had the dark thought of her being totally overlooked, or worse, found by another shinobi from another village. He muttered under his breath, "Or was it fortunate that he did?"

Genma noted that the kid had heard his mutter, and gave her a wink.

So she had better senses than the average civilian. Was it only for hearing, or for other senses as well?

He was interrupted from his musings when the mayor and his wife apparently got to the part in the message where it said they had to give the girl up, for her and their protection.

After sharing a look with his wife, the mayor sent the kid for a Hakke-sensei.

As soon as she left, Genma commented, "Tanaka-san, you do know it is better to keep this quiet."

The mayor shook his head, disagreeing.

"We are a small village, shinobi-san. We all know of the story of how Kumiko's mother came by this village. Hakke-san and my wife was the one who were with her when she died. We all contributed to her nurturing and would want the best for her."

He gave Genma a rueful smile. "Even if I tried to keep it from them, in another few minutes, everyone would have found out that a shinobi has visited our home."

"Aa." Genma replied. There wasn't much he could say to disagree. This _was_ a small village, and not so many people came by. From what the mayor said, all the villagers seemed to be fond of the child, meaning that it was less likely for them to give out information related to the girl to other strangers.

The mayor sighed. "I wish there was a way for us to keep her here, as she really is one of the best things that has happened in the village. There were some who were wary of her aloof personality at first, but all have come to see the benefits of having a child around."

He gazed out the window, gesturing towards one of the newer-looking farmhouses. "There has been three marriages since she began to talk, and two of the couples are expecting their firstborn children this coming winter."

"Congratulations."

In the following lull in conversation, they all decided to head outside to wait. After a moment of silence, the mayor's wife quietly spoke up, with quite a bit of awkward shuffling of feet.

"Shinobi-san, is there any other way besides Kumiko going to Konoha for protection? The Hokage was quite clear in the letter about the threats she faced if she stayed, but still..."

"Tanaka-san, there are plenty of ways for her to stay in the village. But does that mean that she will be safe? No." The mayor's wife looked crestfallen at that, and Genma couldn't help but feel a little pity for her. She must have been very fond of the girl.

The sounds of two people approaching took his attention away from the mayor and his wife towards the fields.

The girl said something indistinguishable to the man next to her, who stared at her with amazement, exclaiming, "Kumiko! You really have a great sense of smell! I always thought you won in our guessing games because you recognized the herbs you were saw in the basket!"

Hmm. So better sense of hearing and smell than the average civilian. Which... could possibly inherited from an Inuzuka, or... a person with a Dog-Summons contract.

To put it bluntly, it was shinobi protocol to avoid having sex outside mission parameters. Procreating outside the village had a tendency of creating holes in village security, making it liable to infiltrators who claimed to be the long-lost children of elite shinobi.

This implicit rule was never a part of the shinobi handbook, because it was one of the more obvious shinobi common knowledge... breaking this particular rule was a 'Bad Idea', with capitals. Big capitals.

It was looking more and more like Kakashi had gone against protocol, if Genma had not known Kakashi's personality for himself. While porn was a borderline reasonable past time for shinobi (even if he was reading it _everywhere_ he went), it was more believable for him to have sired an illegitimate child than Tsunade-sama giving up sake - which would never happen in a thousand years.

While he had been thinking, the adults had not-so-subtly 'kicked' the girl out of the house to have 'adult-talk'. Genma glanced at the girl to find she was heading towards one of the storage sheds, one that had a faint herbal smell to it. As the adults weren't really concerned about her, he suspected that the girl often stayed in that particular shed. Perhaps she underwent herbology training under this 'Hakke-sensei'?

Genma pushed his chakra-sense out, keeping an eye out for the child. He belatedly followed the mayor back into the house to find that the mayor's wife was bringing out the tea while the doctor was reading through the Hokage's letter.

The mayor's wife spoke as she set out the tea arrangements on a small tea table.

"Shinobi-san, about the other methods of Kumiko staying in the village..."

Genma nodded to show he was listening. The mayor's wife hesitated once more, then asked, "May I ask specifically what the 'other methods' are?"

"I am not sure exactly what Hokage-sama has planned, but I would think it would involve a permanent hair color change, maybe chakra inhibitors, and other backup plans and details more or less like that."

Genma paused, slightly concerned that they would insist on the girl staying.

"Tanaka-san, though Kumiko staying is an option, it is a very dangerous one. Hokage-sama was clear that it would be best if the girl came to Konoha, and that only if the girl was adamant on staying in the village would she consider the other options of letting her stay. Even one slip in any of the mentioned methods could expose Kumiko, putting her in danger."

The doctor spoke up. "Exactly who is this shinobi Kumiko-chan related to? The letter just says elite shinobi..."

"That is classified."

At that, all the civilians tensed. Genma quickly backtracked, trying to ease their fears.

"I do want to emphasize that this is for Kumiko's protection. We want to avoid our shinobi from getting hurt, and if she is related, Kumiko-chan as well. Sometimes, knowing something is more dangerous than not knowing."

When there was no sign of the tension easing, Genma spoke again.

"Tanaka-san, Tanaka-san, Hakke-san. I know, to you, it seems unlikely that Kumiko would be found out in such a small village as this. You may be right. But we shinobi are a paranoid bunch, and since the last war, our paranoia is still at its peak. It would take a long while before it disappears completely. I'm sure you understand."

For a few moments, no one said anything. Then the doctor spoke with a sigh. "... Ahh, I knew Kumiko was special, but a child of a shinobi? I would never have guessed it."

He started rolling up the scroll he had been reading. "Although in the letter Hokage-sama said there was a _possibility_ of being related, for shinobi a 'possibility' is treated as if it is a certain fact, am I correct?"

"Yes."

At that, they fell again into a brief silence, all preoccupied with their own thoughts.

When the mayor cleared his throat, about to speak with the concerned face of a worried parent, Genma felt an instinctual reluctance - he was not going to like the next several minutes...

"Where is Kumiko going to stay in Konoha? Is the place a good and safe place?"

Immediately after the question's meaning sunk in, the mayor's wife followed up with another question.

"Is she allowed to come visit our village?"

The doctor chipped in his two cents as well.

"Does Konoha have a safe field for Kumiko-chan to play in? She likes wide open spaces... Are there dangerous areas in the village that she might wander into by accident?"

With a mental sigh, Genma prepared himself for a grueling hour, if not several hours, of being grilled over details he _didn't know_. He supposed he would have to improvise, then tell Tsunade-sama what the guardians wanted for the girl.

Parental concerns were sweet, but difficult to deal with if one was not the parent.

{(S)}

Genma had finally calmed the 'parents' of the girl enough to ensure that Kumiko was to be in safe hands at Konoha.

The doctor, Hakke Takao, brought the kid back from the herb shed, sitting her down in the middle of the room. Together, the adults told her the news of her unexpected move to Konoha.

Genma couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her. She had to give up her foster parents and home to protect herself and the village.

When the little girl stayed silent as she sorted through the information she was given, all the adults, sans the shinobi, fidgeted.

She then made her choice of leaving, which really was for the best, even if the mayor's wife was obviously dismayed by the choice.

He decided to give the child an extra few hours with her family, a night to stay with her foster parents.

They tried to offer him a room, but he saw that the house was too small for him to fit in comfortably, so he declined. Luckily, the communal grains storage house was empty enough, only storing bags of planting seeds that made a good enough bed with an extra blanket. The blanket was given freely by the mayor.

He left them alone for the night, excusing himself from the potluck dinner for a village-wide perimeter security check. He didn't really want to be the interloper in their family gathering. As if in thanks for giving them privacy, He was given a very extravagant bento, which he ate in the forest during his patrol.

{(S)}

The next morning was a beautiful day, with a clear sky promising great weather.

Genma noticed that the little girl had bags under her eyes, and a strange lack of expression.

Compared to yesterday's relative expressiveness, her face was as stiff as a wooden mask.

He watched the tearful hugs, kisses, hair-ruffling of the villagers, and the girl's body language. She was tensed up and was digging her fingers into her palms.

... Perhaps she was trying not to show her tears to her foster parents and villagers?

If so, she possessed a high-control over her expressions, for her age. Not seen often. She definitely had high social intelligence, with general intellect that was on par with that of a prodigy.

To protect the rest of the villagers, she chose the logical choice of going to Konoha. Also, by making sure everyone saw that she was 'indifferent' to coming back to the village, she was discouraging any attempts made to get her back.

...Or maybe he was reading too much into her actions. She was only five years old, after all.

After they had all said their final goodbyes, he lowered himself into a crouch when the child turned to face him, ready to leave. He offered his back as she walked towards him. He didn't comment or react when her expressionless face changed to that of a grief-stricken one when she turned away from her foster parents.

She clambered onto his back, and as he stood, he felt a his shoulder becoming slightly warm and wet.

He flicked a glance back to find she had hidden her face on his vest. He suspected that her control over her emotions were breaking.

After a nod to the mayor and his wife, he decided to spare the girl any more emotional scenes and shunshined away.

A few moments later, he felt her turn back towards the direction of the village and whisper a 'I'll miss you'.

_She's a strong kid._

{(S)}

By the time they stopped for a short break, the tears on his shirt had already dried out.

The kid was still quiet and subdued, looking ready to cry again as she ate the leftovers the mayor's wife had given them to eat on the way.

Genma was inwardly panicking. How'd you stop a kid from crying? He started talking about Konoha to distract her and cheer her up. It seemed to be working, as she seemed to be listening instead of brooding, so he continued talking about the civilian aspects of the village while they finished their meal.

He finished his meal and looked back at her to see her spacing out, holding an empty leaf-plate. She seemed to be staring at his senbon.

"Hey Kumiko-chan, do you want to see something cool?" When he waited in silence for her to answer, staring amusedly at her, she seemed to wake up, starting to pay attention again. When she found Genma waiting for an answer, she gave him a shrug.

_Heh. How... cute._

So he started showing off, spitting the senbon in the air only to catch it again with his mouth after it had spun several times in the air.

She was watching, but she still seemed to be thinking of something else.

_At least she wasn't sad. Or worse, crying. _But he tried to get her attention again, talking to her while balancing the senbon on his nose.

"So it's okay for me to call you Kumiko-chan, then? I didn't really ask your permission yesterday. Did I even introduce myself to you?"

He glanced at her as he flicked the senbon into the air again and caught it with his mouth. She was miles away again. "Kumiko-chan?"

Ah, there she was. Heh, the kid was really cute.

"I realized that I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Shiranui Genma. I'm a tokubetsu jonin, which means a mid-high rank in the shinobi corps."

He flicked the senbon in midair once more, watching how the kid's eyes followed the senbon but started to become distant again as she thought about something. Inwardly shrugging, he continued with his explanation.

"The shinobi corps ranking system goes something like this: academy students who learn shinobi skills, then genin who help out in the village, then chunin who usually do a little more challenging missions, then tokubetsu jonin who has missions needing their special skill. So you could say I'm one of the elite. You should feel honored, Kumiko-chan!" He gave her a wink, to which she only absentmindedly nodded to.

"Finally, there are the jonin, the highest ranked shinobi. These are the stereotypical shinobi that civilians usually think of when they think shinobi."

He inwardly gave himself a slap on the head after saying that last statement. Didn't he find out yesterday that she had set Maito Gai as the standard, 'stereotypical' shinobi? "Well... not Maito Gai, though. He's not... a... ah... typical jonin."

He frowned, as he wasn't very sure she would take that correctly.

As Gai's genin teammate, he didn't want to give her wrong preconceptions by accident. Best let her make her own conclusions after getting to know him herself.

He glanced at her again and found her paying close attention to something on his face near his mouth instead of the conversation at hand. Did he have something on his face? He wiped around his mouth, but it was clean. "Anyway, it's not really good to talk about someone else when they're not there, so... What's your favorite vegetable? Are you like other civilian kids not liking vegetables? What about pumpkins?"

Genma hoped the diversion tactic was not too obvious; he couldn't help inwardly giving himself another slap on the head. Did his creativity levels suddenly suffer? How could he come up with such a pathetic diversion topic?

Thankfully, she was still staring at his face, making no indication that she heard the questions or that she was paying attention to the conversation. He continued talking, hoping that whatever she was concentrating on had not alerted her to his pathetic diversion. "I consider the pumpkin to be the queen of -"

"Do you have something big stuck between your teeth? Why do you keep a toothpick with you all the time?"

The interruption caught him off-guard. "...?!"

Where did _that_ come from? ... Something big stuck between his teeth? ...Toothpick...?

The kid pointed to his mouth. _Seriously, a toothpick?_

He followed her finger's direction with his own. He did not have - oh.

_...the senbon_?

As he tried to control the twitching corners of his mouth, trying not to laugh at the kid calling senbon a _toothpick_, he realized that Gai only carried around blunt weapons, so the kid had probably never seen kunai before, much less a senbon.

The thought was not much help in controlling his laughter about to escape - mistaking senbon for a toothpick! - though he tried; he really did.

But in the face of the kid looking dead-serious, as if examining an unknown explosive seal that could go off any minute, asking why he had a _toothpick_ all the time - his usual self-control was blown. It was like watching a kitten carefully pat at a harmless object, not really expecting it to do anything, but accidentally setting it off into motion and frightening the life out of the curious kitten.

So he turned away, trying to gain his self-control back.

He had been trying to contain his laughter and had almost succeeded in gaining back his composure when he sensed something moderately fast approaching him from behind.

All humor gone in an instant, he started molding chakra into the senbon to throw and reaching for his kunai pouch when he realized it was the kid and immediately broke off his movement and chakra.

He calmed his breath as his heart fluttered in a mini-heart attack; that had been too close. Killing or hurting the kid by accident with medical care still half a day's travel away in Konoha... He took a deep breath trying to calm his stuttering heart.

Strangely, the kid was holding his wrist, taking his pulse.

Didn't the kid know not to approach a ninja sudden - oh. That's right, this was only her second time meeting a ninja.

Then the kid went and did something even stranger than randomly checking for a pulse: she started to peer around the clearing, looking under the bushes and closely at the tree roots nearby.

Genma watched for several moments, then finally succumbed to his curiosity. "...What are you doing, Kumiko-chan?"

She answered without looking at him, crawling on her knees to peer closer at a tangle of tree roots. "Looking for the source of paralysis. Hakke-sensei said usually the antidote was found in the roots of the paralytic."

_Paralysis? Antidote? Who was paralyzed?_

"There doesn't seem to be any paralytic herbs... Shiranui-san, do you have a type of chronic illness with seizures? Have you ever had seizures before, or was this the first one?"

_...She thought I was paralyzed? Or had a seizure? How-? __...Ah._

His shaking and twitching from laughter before. Then the pulse-taking after his mini-heart attack after aborting the defensive reflex.

...Twitching and erratic pulse were common symptoms of paralysis poisons.

"...Shiranui-san?"

Most civilians didn't know that, much less civilian _children_, whether they grew up at a farm or not.

"How do you know about paralytic herbs?"

"...Hakke-sensei told me. There were certain types of herbs I had to look out for if I wanted to play at Tenrai valley."

Okay, this made it official. She had high intelligence, and was possibly a prodigy in terms of understanding and applying the said information. No normal five-year-old kid, no matter how intelligent, remembered the symptoms from paralytic herbs and its counters.

They might be able to recognize and avoid the herbs, but knowing abstruse information such as where to find the antidotes to those herbs? That the antidotes had a tendency of coming from the paralytic's roots? The natural habitats of most paralytic herbs?

This kid was a genius.

...Though her social intelligence had to be evaluated again if she didn't recognize a person holding in their laughter. But... that could be due to the fact that she just hadn't had much experience in dealing with other people. Yet.

He found the kid still watching him with concern, so he assured her that he was alright. "Aa... well, I'm not in paralysis, and no, I do not have chronic seizures. I just... remembered something very funny."

There was a pause while she slowly nodded at him.

"You are very strange, Shiranui-san. Not as strange as Maito-san, but strange, all the same."

Genma turned pale. He was being compared to Maito Gai, of all people? And he was still strange?

"Umm, Kumiko-chan, you can call me Genma... And Maito Gai... is just a very special kind of shinobi. You shouldn't compare every shinobi with him, okay?"

He inwardly hoped she didn't call other shinobi strange hand in hand with Gai's strangeness. He loved his teammate, but to be compared with _Gai_ and seen to be just as strange (or even stranger, if that was possible) was the worst insult in terms of eccentricity...

But... for the kid to just... decide that he was as strange as his teammate Gai... His teammate was putting up a facade to be underestimated! He had not! A facade and the real personality couldn't possibly compare in terms of strangeness! ...right?

This kid was making him doubt one of his most steadfast beliefs... no one was more eccentric than_ Gai_, right?

He watched as she nodded seriously in response to his request, but he also saw the stubborn quirk of her mouth that all but said 'I still think I'm right'.

Genma inwardly sighed.

The faster they got to Konoha and correct her misconceptions of what a 'normal' shinobi was, the better.

"Ready to go on?"

{(S)}

When they stopped for lunch several hours away from Konoha, she took the initiative in the conversation, this time.

"So, what is that symbol thing on the metal plate on the back of your head?"

Ah, an easy enough question. He hoped there wasn't another misconception incident like the one at breakfast.

"Oh, this is called a hitai-ate. The symbol..." Why is she calling the leaf a symbol? "...Isn't it obviously a leaf? A swirly one?"

He tilted his head to show her the leaf.

She squinted, then turned her head a little to the side. She turned away and did not meet his eyes. "...Aa."

_...It was not obvious?_ Genma couldn't help the following outburst. "How could you NOT see that this is a leaf? ...What did you think it was anyway?"

She looked embarrassed, hesitating before answering.

He raised his eyebrows to prompt her.

"...a snail...?"

After a momentary pause, Genma facepalmed. Now that he mentally recalled the image of the leaf symbol on his hitai-ate, he could now not _un_-see the snail. He did his best to pour figurative bleach on that thought, but it wasn't working very well.

He felt like a traitor, but... he could see where the kid was coming from. The leaf symbol did look pretty confusing for a... leaf.

Now that he reflected on it, when he had been a small kid - _before he understood what it stood for!_ \- he had thought the leaf insignia was a paintbrush or some animal's tail.

Genma sighed again, and tried pouring more figurative bleach on that tidbit of neuron connections in his head as well.

It would _not do_ for him to see a paintbrush or animal's tail or, for Kami, a _snail_ every time he saw a Konoha hitai-ate or insignia. If the Yamanaka's or Ibiki got even a hint of _that_, he'd be pulled to T&amp;I for a psych checkup. Not fun. No, not fun at all.

He saw Kumiko being sheepish for being unable to see the leaf and gave her a reassuring smile. "... Anyway, this hitai-ate is a symbol to show that you have come of age and are willing to take up responsibilities of the village as a shinobi."

_And an implicit vow to take up the Will of Fire: to protect and cherish and love Konoha._

"Oh."

The rest of the meal was silent, both of us in a reflective mood. She was a quiet kid, not feeling too uncomfortable in the silence. Genma was grateful, as he had had to deal with loud, annoying children too many times.

He got up when she finished, and crouched to let her up on his back for the last leg of the journey.

Ten minutes later, he noticed her grip loosening. He turned slightly to see her sleepy, half-closed eyes, drooping open and closed as she was about to fall asleep.

...That was actually... really cute.

He shifted mid-jump to place her in a more comfortable position, tightening his hold to secure her better.

If asked, Genma would claim that Kumiko's small puff of breath on his neck had made him ticklish. But had anyone witnessed the actual moment when Kumiko snuggled into Genma's neck with a small mumble, they would have seen that Genma, the imperturbable tokubetsu jonin, had cracked a 'loving-oji-san' smile.

{(S)}

When they arrived in Konoha, Genma stopped before the gates.

"Kumiko-chan, we're here."

As she woke up from the stop in movement, her confused and dazed face was... cute. After he let her down, she rubbed her eyes and yawned.

Genma didn't use 'adorable' to describe things often, but... that... was ad...or...able.

They walked towards the village, passing the gates. He glanced at the kid to see her gawking at Hokage Mountain, as well as the village people milling about the marketplace. He supposed that it was a large number of people for a girl from Namura 'village'.

He greeted Kotetsu and Izumo, signing to them to let Tsunade-sama know that Kumiko had arrived. As Kotetsu answered him verbally and Izumo signed in confirmation, Genma watched Kumiko from the corner of his eye to see her look back and forth from the two chunin and himself.

She had that serious thinking face again, and Genma could practically see her spacing out.

...She was probably comparing them to Gai in her head. He sighed, and hoped her misconceptions about shinobi was in the process of correcting itself soon.

Genma took her hand and prepared to walk, planning to show her around Konoha on the way to Hokage Tower.

As they started walking, Kumiko asked a question. "We're not going to fly-run like you did on the way here?"

...Fly-run? Oh, shunshin. Shunshin was too quick for civilian to get a look around the village.

So he made a small white lie, wanting to show her around her future home, but not wishing to be a total laughingstock among his peers about having _feelings_. "Nah, I feel like walking so I can save up chakra for a short mission later."

He did need to go on a mission _later_, like, tomorrow later; also, he did have to _save chakra_ for a short mission, like, after a challenging mission - so technically, he wasn't lying.

Genma knew that, at least this time, his lie was pretty credible. So why was she staring at him like that?

"...What is chakra?"

He blinked. He inwardly gave a sigh in relief, because for some reason, getting caught lying to this particular little girl seemed... undesirable. Genma recited the standard explanation for chakra.

"Chakra is a sort of mixed energy of spiritual and physical energy. Both can be found in everyone, both civilians and shinobi, but shinobi train to mix the spiritual and physical energy, creating chakra."

Inwardly, Genma added, _Some people trained to use only the spiritual or only the physical energy, but that was the minority and not used often_.

"Chakra is the energy needed to use jutsus and speed and strength enhancements."

He looked back at the kid, expecting her to be confused.

She was staring intently at him, eyes twinkling with interest. He continued.

"In most cases, chakra has a blue color, to those who can see it. I believe yours _may_ be white, which only one family in Konoha is known to have. A family trait only seen by one family is something called a Kekkei-Gekkai around here. If you do have white chakra, then it's definite proof that you are related to one of our elite ninja, because the only known Kekkei-Genkai of white chakra is found in Konoha."

He watched as she absorbed that information, nodding slowly in understanding.

Genma shrugged. Only time would tell if she understand the explanation enough to apply it herself.

He started pointing out some notable places for her, starting with the Konoha marketplace, which was bustling with people and merchants selling their wares.

The two continued walking through the streets, with Genma occasionally pointing out a good restaurant or landmark to the small child.

About ten minutes later, they reached Hokage Tower.

In front of the building, Genma deliberated between taking the stairs and chakra-jumping through the window.

If he had been alone, he would have taken the stairs, as he had earned enough of Tsunade-sama's ire for using the window instead of the door these past few weeks.

But... during the trip, Kumiko seemed to enjoy the shunshin, and he wanted to give her last ride.

Of course, he had _no_ idea or even _slightest_ inkling that having Kumiko with him as he came through the window would act as a shield from Tsunade-sama's wrath.

"Here Kumiko-chan, take my other hand as well. I'm going to jump pretty high and I don't want you to fall."

Genma decided that the muted delight in Kumiko's face was worth the risk of Tsunade-sama's wrath. He felt the tugging of the corners of his mouth as his mouth attempted to make another oji-smile.

Fortunately for his reputation as Genma, the imperturbable tokubetsu jonin, the half-smile slipped off his face when a white sake cup flew past his face.

Unfortunately for his status of well-being, he felt his impending doom as his face paled with the realization that his Hokage had _missed hitting him on purpose_.

"Shiranui, what did I say about coming through the window? One more strike and you get demoted to C-ranks for the rest of the month!"

Tsunade-sama was signing with her fingers as she rubbed her closed eyes, telling him to report after taking the child to the hospital, and to use _the door_,_ not the window_, _dammit_.

He tried to stay calm, breathing slowly and keeping his heart-beat slow and regular.

Kumiko was slowly creeping behind his leg, taking shelter from the scowl on Tsunade-sama's face... and Genma couldn't help but wish that he could do the same, hiding behind something or someone else.

_Come on, Genma, you can do this... Kumiko is looking at you for guidance... She is meeting Tsunade-sama for the first time and doesn't know that Tsunade-sama is actually not that scary... to children..._

With a (very fake) rueful grin, Genma cheerfully commented, "Sorry, Tsunade-sama. I forgot again."

A beat of silence.

_Oh Crap. Tsunade-sama had that... that... glint in her eyes that most ANBU termed 'contemplating the use of extensive medical knowledge and chakra to inflict the most pain in the most horrifying manner'._

"Report, Shiranui."

Genma swallowed, telling himself that there couldn't be that big of a consequence to using the window, and hoped that she would overlook it, believing that he really did forget.

...But he saw the glare that he was still receiving from Tsunade-sama, and regretted his decision and his faulty reasoning of thinking that Kumiko had been enough of a shield for Tsunade-sama to not dole out punishment on him.

He was much more subdued as he responded to her verbal command.

"Mission accomplished. I just wanted to check with you before taking her to the hospital for the blood test."

Tsunade-sama gave Genma a long glare promising _consequences_ if he used the window again, then softened her glare when she turned to Kumiko.

Hmm... He had expected either a chakra-laden finger-flick to the head or a month of D-rank missions... So perhaps the plan of using Kumiko-chan as a shield had actually worked.

"Hello there. I'm Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage. Or you may know me as the person who asked you to come to Konoha. What is your name, gaki?

Kumiko made a little awkward bow, looking quite nervous. Genma fought the tugging corners of his mouth from another appearance of the oji-smile, only just barely controlling the smile from showing.

"My name is Tanaka Kumiko."

"Hm. There _does_ seem to be an uncanny similarity between you and that sorry excuse of a ninja. I'm still waiting for him; he was due an hour ago."

Tsunade-sama started muttering, ranting to herself about Kakashi's not-so-commendable habits and tendencies. "Promise to be punctual, hmph. Asking me to stop gambling would have a better chance of succeeding."

Genma knew what Tsunade-sama was doing - testing the sensitiveness of Kumiko's hearing, as well as checking for body language that would betray interest in Kakashi - just in case she was an infiltrator trying to find more about him.

"Not used to the paperwork, pfft. More like, doing everything to _avoid_ it. That upstart brat better get up off his backside and take up this job soon, or there _will_. _be_. _consequences_."

Genma couldn't help flinching at Tsunade-sama's last several words. Though the mutters were to determine Kumiko's hearing range, he couldn't help but think that some of her true annoyance at Kakashi was showing through her forceful words near the end.

He observed Kumiko, who gave no sign of recognition at Kakashi's characterization traits and simply looked puzzled. In fact, she didn't seem that interested in the chronically late shinobi at all, more interested in Tsunade-sama's office and the view of Hokage Mountain.

It didn't seem very likely that Kumiko was an infiltrator.

Tsunade-sama looked like she came to a similar conclusion.

"Alright Shiranui, off to the hospital. And use the door next time, or I will show you exactly how high you need to be to touch the clouds. Am I clear?"

As she made a shooing motion with her hand, Tsunade-sama signed to him to tell the medic to check for a sleeper-seal, just in case.

...And to use the door, _or else_.

"H-hai, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade-sama turned away from him and gave a small, genuine smile at Kumiko.

"Tanaka Kumiko, welcome to Konoha."

Kumiko gave a small smile in response. At her small but bright smile, Genma couldn't help feel another tug on the corners of his lips as his mouth attempted another 'loving-oji-san' smile.

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

At Kumiko's attempt at being formal, his mouth finally succeeded in making the smile. (It was hidden behind a hand, so his reputation was still intact)

...She was really... ad...or...able.

* * *

Footnotes

**'Loving-oji-san' smile/ Oji-smile (Loving-uncle smile/Uncle-smile)**: This is a smile most people have on their faces when watching/seeing something cute and innocent (like twin babies 'talking', a kitten falling asleep while eating, a puppy chasing its tail, and everything cute and innocent that makes one go 'Dawwwww...').

It is called a 'loving-_oji_-san' smile because even the most macho of guys are said to automatically start practicing this smile when they become a daddy to a little baby-girl.

Some countries actually call this smile a "Daddy-smile", because the feeling when smiling this smile is said to be similar to the feelings dads/fathers have when wishing "to protect his cute little daughter from the 'yuckiness' of boys". (Quote by an anonymous dad)

...This is a term that will be used somewhat frequently in the upcoming chapters.

* * *

**A/N** \- IT'S A FILLER CHAPTER, and the plot is seriously NOT PROGRESSING. I KNOW.

...Deal with it.

If you liked it, review, telling me what you liked! If you didn't, review** why**!

Full of cyber-love for my reviewers, followers, favoriters, _and_ all potential reviewers, followers, favoriters!

Lotsa cyber-thanks to you guys!


	5. Kakashi, Are You Ready?

**Previously:**

_Tsunade-sama turned away from him and gave a small, genuine smile at Kumiko._

_"Tanaka Kumiko, welcome to Konoha."_

_Kumiko gave a small smile in response. At her small but bright smile, Genma couldn't help feel another tug on the corners of his lips as his mouth attempted another 'loving-oji-san' smile._

_"Hai, Hokage-sama."_

_At Kumiko's attempt at being formal, his mouth finally succeeded in making the smile. (It was hidden behind a hand, so his reputation was still intact)_

_...She was really... ad...or...able._

* * *

**Chapter 5: Kakashi, Are You Ready?**

(Posted 2014-10-30, Updated 2015-01-02)

{(S)}

_Kakashi: Early Morning, Konoha Memorial Stone_

Kakashi had a sense of foreboding today.

Perhaps it was because he had escaped the grasps of paperwork he was supposed to be doing.

Perhaps it was because he was late for the clan council meeting he had been supposed to attend along with the Hokage.

Perhaps it was because he had talked to Obito, Rin, and Sensei at the Memorial Stone for the first time since 'talking' to them in the last war.

"Kakashi, My Eternal Rival!"

...Or perhaps it was because he had gained another sense that recognized the approach of Gai.

"... Hm." Kakashi focused back on his Icha Icha Tactics, pretending to read the book even though he had already memorized the book from cover to cover.

"Yosh! I have just completed a short mission at the village of Namura, north of Obake Woods! I met a curious little girl with silver hair and a Hip and Cool attitude like yours!"

Gai spun around and gave a disappointed frown to Kakashi.

"You must have partaken in the Unyouthful activities described in your Unyouthful book!"

Kakashi had to take a moment to understand what Gai was talking about, which was, flabbergastingly enough, not a challenge. Then the meaning of the message finished filtering through his Gai-speak translator.

"... Ha?"

To the common passerby and the majority of the ninja alike, there wasn't much difference in Kakashi's reaction from the ones he usually gave Gai when responding to a challenge. The lazy drawl was there, the posture of ignorance was there – he was a picture of impassiveness.

But Gai knew better: he saw the tenseness of Kakashi's body posture, the tiny widening of the eyes, and the minuscule movement under the mask that told of a slight gaping mouth.

Gai became quiet and more subdued in his movements, a sign showing his seriousness.

"You didn't, did you?"

Kakashi slowly gave a shake of his head.

"Icha is Icha. Porn. I never... perhaps a long-lost relative?"

Gai gave a small shake of the head in disagreement.

"No, there were too many similarities... Anyway, Tsunade-sama wants you in the office right away."

As Kakashi stood from his spot under the tree, Gai gave him a thumbs up and a much smaller, yet sincere, smile. "I'll keep this quiet."

With a nod, Kakashi finished his handseals and shunshined away, leaving fluttering leaves behind.

{(S)}

_Tsunade: Earlier Morning, Hokage Office_

Tsunade was having a bad day. Shizune and Sakura had found her secret stashes of sake – both of them – and had confiscated them all. On top of this, the silver-haired _brat_ decided not to show up for the council of clans meeting he was supposed to take charge of. She had to reschedule it several hours later than planned while presiding over the more... urgent proceedings herself. But this still would have been a normal, somewhat everyday occurrence, if not Gai dropped that bombshell of a report.

"Gai. Get Kakashi in here _right_. _now_."

"Hai!"

She rubbed her eyes.

It was procedure to keep from procreating outside the village, but Kakashi in particular didn't seem the type to actively participate in... lovemaking. He _was_ a pervert, but so were many others; loving porn didn't mean he actually participated. For him, the porn was more of a... method of coping and a source of entertainment, mainly by watching others' reactions of his public readings.

Also, the brat she watched grow up had always stuck to procedures and rules, only going against it in the direst of situations, mainly ones involving a teammate's safety.

... Except for the being late thing. And as that was a tribute to his friend the Uchiha brat, it was pardoned... most of the time.

With a deep sigh, Tsunade rubbed at the frown-lines between her eyebrows.

What was it about Team 7 that kept getting its members into trouble? Wasn't 7 a supposedly lucky number?

Starting from her grandfather, then Hiruzen-sensei, then Jiraiya's brats, then Minato-brat's team, then Kakashi-brat's team... Huh, now that she thought about it, only one person from each team had genin-brat-underlings.

Perhaps making all of them take on genin teams would distribute the bad luck more evenly over the teams?

Hmm... A plausible theory. Team 7 _had_ gone through a period with considerably less trouble-filled missions after Sai and Tenzo became honorary members. Though, 'considerably less' meaning their missions above a D-rank ended up being reassigned to a high A- or low S-rank instead of an S-rank or unranked. Perhaps increasing the number of people to distribute the bad luck, by making all of the currently free Team 7 jonin to take on genin teams...

As she was considering the different methods of tricking the current Team 7 membership title-holders to take on genin teams, she noticed Kakashi's chakra signature forming outside the window.

She was very tempted to throw a paperweight at him for being the ten-thousandth ninja to come through the _window_, not the _door_, but decided to overlook it, just this once.

She studiously ignored the small voice in her head that grumbled she overlooked _all_ the ninja going through her window, only giving away death-threats, dodge-training, and minor Killer-Intent instead of actual punishment.

She felt Kakashi enter, but kept rubbing at her closed eyes and motioned towards the area in front of her desk.

Only once Kakashi's chakra signature was in front of her desk for a few tense seconds did she stop and open her eyes to face him.

"Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Tsunade-sama, I did not go against protocols." Kakashi dry swallowed nervously. "Not that I have... um... not... slept with anyone, but just not outside the village. ...Ahem." He cleared his throat to fill in the awkward silence.

Tsunade was tempted to laugh at Kakashi-brat's embarrassment. He had been shameless about his public porn-reading, but to be this embarrassed while talking about sex! It was hilarious.

Kakashi found his composure once more and repeated himself formally.

"I wish to make clear that I stayed within protocols and committed no such actions outside the village. What similarities there are, I suggest it to be... a very unfortunate coincidence, coming from being distantly-related."

"... Hm." Tsunade knitted her hands in front of her face, leaning into it and purposely looking intimidating with her poker-face. She inwardly smirked, knowing that Kakashi was starting to break out in cold-sweat behind his half-mask.

"Tsunade-sama, I really am not responsible for this. I... I... all the women I have slept with are... well. Kunoichi. And I know that all are accounted for."

Tsunade closed her eyes again in thought. She didn't say anything for the longest while, opening her eyes when she felt it had been long enough for Kakashi to have felt uncomfortable. Hmph. She supposed she should let him off, as he was still getting over the shock that he may have sired an illegitimate child.

It wasn't like he went his way to antagonize her; he only left her with all the paperwork, sowed public dissonance with his porn-reading on the street, and was only always late to meetings.

...Actually, he deserved it. For ruining her quiet, normal-day-with-no-headaches, if nothing else.

Her long silence had caused him to start fidgeting with his chakra.

Well, he should have suffered enough by now.

"... I believe you, Kakashi."

Kakashi gave a grateful bow. "Hokage-sama."

Tsunade took out a scroll and started writing. "I want you to go and tell Shizune the names of the kunoichi you have... had intercourse with. Though I highly doubt it is the case, let's make sure none of them has... _hidden_ a pregnancy."

She handed Kakashi the scroll, now bearing her signature. "Of course, I do not need to emphasize that this should be done discretely, do I, Hatake?"

With a fortifying gulp, Kakashi nodded. "N-no, Tsunade-sama."

"Dismissed."

{(S)}

_Genma: Morning, Konoha Hospital_

Genma had been looking forward for the end of his physical therapy with Shizune. He had suffered through an extra week because a week before his therapy ended, his old teammate Gai had asked for a spar that he couldn't turn down.

So, he had been present when Kakashi came into Shizune's office, finishing up the last of the stretches he had to do.

Shizune turned from observing Genma to Kakashi, who had come in with a short knock. "... Kakashi-san?"

"Shizune-san, Tsunade-sama sent me."

"Oh, how can I help you? Why don't you tell me while I finish up with Genma-san." Shizune nodded in understanding, then turned back towards Genma after grabbing a clipboard from her desk.

"... She told me to check on two kunoichis' medical files to check if there was a chance that they had hidden a pregnancy."

Kakashi flicked a discreet ANBU sign of 'classified' behind Shizune's back to Genma, who answered back with a 'recognized' with his fingers that could be mistaken for a scratch on his arm.

"Ah, alright. Just one moment please."

Placing the clipboard back on her desk, Shizune faced Genma, who had just completed the last stretch.

"Genma-san, your leg is looking better, almost back to one hundred percent. Please, no extreme training for a week, which means absolutely no sparring with Gai." She gave him a small glare as she scribbled something down. "I recommend taking a courier-run mission or other simple D or C-rank missions that involve traveling if you really wish to stretch your legs."

"Thanks, Shizune-san."

Genma left the medical office quickly, pondering the information from the unintentional eavesdropping. Hiding a pregnancy? So... a recently-found bastard child of one of the more well-known shinobi?

It must be a pretty important person for Kakashi to take an interest.

He tucked away the information to ponder later as he headed for the missions-desk, intent on getting a mission that let him run. He had stayed cooped up in the hospital and village far too long.

Reporting to the missions-desk, he found the missions-desk chuunin on duty talking to the Hokage.

"Ah, Genma."

"Good morning, Tsunade-sama."

"How's the leg? Shizune cleared you for missions?"

"She said it was healed and recommended me to take an easy mission."

"Ah, to stretch your legs? Good. I've got a short mission for you. Come, I'll debrief you."

Tsunade led the way to the adjacent soundproofed room put aside for private missions debriefs. Once the door closed behind them, she began speaking. "This is a C-rank mission to the village of Namura, north of Obake woods. Do you know of the village?"

"I don't recall going to the village, no. But I think Obake woods were to the north of Tadasu town."

"You are correct. As for the village, it is very small, few hours northeast from Tadasu town, located inside the Obake woods. Three days ago they requested a shinobi to deal with the local bandit problem. Gai went and completed the mission,"

Tsunade started to write the mission on a scroll, continuing with the debrief as she wrote.

"He had no problems with the bandits, but found... someone in the village. A small girl about five or six years in age." She tossed Genma the mission scroll, then started writing an official looking letter in another scroll with the Hokage insignia on it.

"Her name is Kumiko. She has silver hair, suspected to have high-level intelligence, and was noticed to have similar behavioral characteristics as Hatake."

Genma's eyes widened.

"Everything else is conjecture. Perhaps a long-lost relative. You are to investigate all possibilities, whether that means Kakashi has gone against protocol, or it is just plain coincidence a child has an attitude of a Hatake along with their looks and skills set."

She sighed, then stamped her letter with the official Konoha insignia, making it as official as possible. She waited a moment for the ink to dry, blowing with a trace amount of chakra. As she rolled up the scroll, she continued.

"It is most likely that we are the first to notice her, but to avoid any chance that we weren't, I want you to bring her to Konoha right away."

She sealed the letter with sealing wax, then handed it to Genma.

"Gai noted that the parents were very loving. We don't really want to force the child, but she is in danger of being kidnapped. Make sure the foster parents understand that. Give her a few hours to say goodbye, then leave. If she really doesn't want to, send a hawk with a blood sample. I'll figure something out if it comes to that, but try your absolute best in convincing them that coming to Konoha is the best option."

Genma nodded. "Hai, Tsunade-sama."

"Dismissed."

{(S)}

_Tsunade:_

Around the time that Genma had reached Namura and was trying to persuade the mayor, mayor's wife, and the doctor about the importance of having the child protected in Konoha, the Hospital was becoming increasingly more agitated.

Tsunade-sama had decided to visit the hospital and start healing people instead of working on her regular duties at Hokage Tower.

This, of course meant that many patients were healed up a lot faster than before, but it also meant that even the most veteran of medics felt no better than rookies in front of The Medic. Every medic, veteran and rookie alike, shared a feeling of wishing they could bang their heads against a figurative wall for their own stupidity - a feeling that occurred often in the presence of Tsunade-_sama_, the last surviving _Legendary Sannin_.

Other, more perceptive shinobi wondered what was bothering Tsunade-sama now.

They had concluded that Tsunade-sama only sought out taking some of the healing duties at the hospital when she was thinking deeply about something or when she had a dilemma... or when she was trying to hide from the paperwork. But the latter case only happened once before, so surely Tsunade-sama was thinking deeply about the security of the village.

(000)

Tsunade was actually doing all the above, more of the third than the first two.

She had received the report from Shizune that none of the kunoichi the Hatake-brat referred to had hidden a pregnancy. Shizune had even been thorough enough to check over all kunoichi who had come into contact with Kakashi in missions six-seven years ago, but still came up blank.

Tsunade re-knit the split skin of a deep, bloody scratch on a woman's leg.

So whose was this child? Why such resemblance to Kakashi? Kakashi had been ransacking his family records for missing relatives, but so far, no clues were forthcoming.

Tsunade cast off the bloody gloves and snapped her fingers over her shoulder for a new pair of gloves. She felt more than saw the medic behind her scrambling to give them to her quickly.

Tsunade inwardly snorted, wondering when the rookies would realize that stumbling was unacceptable as a med-nin (The medic in question actually had four years of experience, which was pretty respectable for a medic, but let's focus on the big picture here) and train to make fluid movements in everything, not just in general dodge-training.

Tsunade went back to her important train of thought, healing up the broken wrist presented to her on the side.

Kakashi and the mystery child. Nothing could be done until news from Genma came back, hopefully with the child.

As soon as she finished strengthening the wrist with supplementary chakra, she threw away her gloves and walked out of the hospital room, deep in thought. As she headed back for Hokage Tower, she didn't notice that she had overlooked the civilian man's broken ankle, only healing up his broken wrist.

The other medics finished healing up the poor man's ankle.

{(S)}

_Tsunade: Early Afternoon, Hokage Office_

Two days later the problematic mystery child was finally in Konoha.

The gate guards immediately notified the Hokage, who abandoned her paperwork to send a message to the hospital to prepare for a full medical checkup, with blood tests first.

Tsunade then waited a relatively long ten minutes for the child to arrive in her office.

When they did arrive, she went through the motions of threatening Genma of using the door instead of the windows, while making subtle signs for a detailed report after delivering the child to the hospital.

Out of the corner of her eye, she observed the little girl, who seemed to be of a small stature and very shy.

As soon as Genma led her away, Tsunade went down to the missions-desk and grabbed the closest chuunin examining the missions board.

The 'lucky' chuunin – the Aburame heir – was briefed of the situation of the illegitimate child with a potential blood-relation to one of the shinobi. He was given the short errand of observing the aforementioned child before his mission, and was told to stay with the girl until the further orders could be decided on.

By the time she came back to the Hokage office, Genma was ready to report.

"Report."

"Hai. Tanaka Kumiko is five years of age, birth date July 23rd. Suspected intelligence level is very high, a prodigy in terms of understanding and applying knowledge."

Genma and Tsunade shared a knowing look at that. Kakashi had been known to be a prodigy in his childhood as well, though for the shinobi arts.

Genma continued. "Social skills are high compared to other civilian children her age. Heightened sense of hearing and smell, on par with an untrained Inuzuka child. Unknown mother died from suffocation due to a kunai to the lung. She was about early to mid-thirties in age at time of death, with an unknown background. Midwife and foster mother noted that the mother's genetic traits of hair color and eyes was similar to those of the subject."

"A kunai to the lung?"

"Civilian-level tracking was attempted after the mother's death, showing that she came from the northwest of the Obake woods, possibly from Korishuku. The mother was suspected to be exposed to a shinobi fight that took place nearby. As far as the doctor could see, the kunai was not aimed at a vital area and only nicked the lung as she walked to the village."

Tsunade nodded her understanding, and motioned him to continue.

"Civilian inquiries to Korishuku, the nearest town in the northwest direction from Namura, has not found anything related to the unknown mother. ...She had traveled almost a mile while in labor. The villagers were impressed with her strength."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at that. A mile while in labor was quite impressive indeed.

"Last words were 'beautiful' to her child and 'care' to the midwife, which the midwife took to mean for the newborn child. The mayor decided it was," Genma hesitated, remembering exactly what he had said. "...fate that led the child to them. Believed it was Jizo who gave her to the village to care for, preparing them for the coming of the next generation."

"Hm."

When Tsunade didn't speak, quietly pondering something, Genma slowly spoke up. "...Tsunade-sama, exactly what did Kakashi say about the possibility of having a bastard child?"

Tsunade evaded the question with a question. "What would you conclude from the information you currently have on the child?"

"Well... if I didn't know Kakashi better, I would have said the girl was definitely his child. But I do know Kakashi, and he is not the type to be this... careless,"

As an afterthought, Genma added, "...if he even went against protocol for something not involving his teammates' safety."

Tsunade nodded, leaning against her interlocked fingers with closed eyes. "We'll have to wait for the blood tests to be certain, but I was of the same opinion."

After a pause, she snapped her eyes open and ordered, "This is to be a A-rank secret, until blood relations are proven. If anyone asks, just say she's a long-lost relative. Understood?"

"Hai."

"You said she had a heightened sense of hearing and smell, but no other noticable heightened sensory skills?"

"Hai, Tsunade-sama." Tsunade started writing out a message in a scroll. "Her accommodations are to be with the Inuzuka clan. Here, deliver this scroll to Tsume. Hana and Kiba should also be on leave, with plenty of time on their hands. They'll have enough help from their nin-ken to observe the girl."

Genma nodded to show his understanding.

Tsunade was about to wave him away in dismissal when she seemed to remember something. "Ah, Genma, on the way, you are to notify Aburame Shino at the hospital that he is to accompany the child to the Inuzuka compounds after her medical examination. You can tell him that the girl is staying with the Inuzuka for discreet observation and that the Inuzuka are aware of the situation. Dismissed."

With a salute, Genma moved to leave the Tower, pausing when his movement to the window got a raised eyebrow from the Godaime.

(000)

_Genma:_

He was only going to open the window a little wider to... ah, air the room. Really. He _was_ intending to use the door to leave, not the window.

... At least, that's what he had said to himself as he made himself scarce from Tsunade-sama's presence, followed by her paperweight thrown with her legendary, chakra-enhanced strength.

Of course he escaped using the window. Why waste the perfect getaway exit?

{(S)}

_Tsunade: Afternoon, Hokage Office_

Waiting for the blood test results, Tsunade wrestled with the paperwork she had been trying to ignore for the past several hours.

From what she could see, the child - Kumiko - was a miniature-female-Kakashi. Her facial structure was almost exactly what Kakashi looked like when he was Kumiko's age.

Tsunade sighed as she pulled out another important looking paper to sign.

Then again, Kakashi was a masked-miniature-Saku – she stopped in the middle of signing, uncaring that there was now a big splotch of ink in the middle of the page.

Hatake Sakumo had been a bit of a womanizer before he had married and settled down. Almost as bad as Jiraiya had been... could it be?

She calculated the years.

If, if, before Kakashi, Sakumo had another child, he or she would be just the right age to have been Kumiko's parent - early to mid-thirties.

Kumiko's mother was said to have the same hair color and eye color of Kumiko.

A Hatake mother, perhaps one who didn't know she was a Hatake?

The chakra-flare accompanying a knock on the office door interrupted her thoughts.

"Tsunade-sama, the blood test results you wanted are here." An office-chuunin handed her the results of the blood test comparison between Kakashi and Kumiko.

The results proved that they were _not father and daughter_. They were, at the closest, uncle and niece.

The long-lost relative theory was holding up, but their similarities in skill set refuted it quite cleanly. The similarities were too many in number for a distantly-related family member to, coincidentally, have as well. Genetics _did_ define a person's major personality traits and skill set, contrary to what most people thought. (Though, the environment, especially a traumatizing one, did have some influence on the personality as well)

They were cousins by far, though it was looking more like Sakumo had broken protocol instead of his son.

... So Kumiko was Kakashi's unknown niece.

"Get me Kakashi immediately. He should be finishing up with the clan council meeting. If he is in the middle of the meeting, tell him to adjourn the meeting for tomorrow."

Tsunade then remembered that Kakashi was a slippery one, especially when dodging responsibilities. "If... if he left behind a scarecrow or something and is not in the council room, check the family records division of the underground shinobi archives. Then send him along to me saying the blood test's results are in, and that there _has_ been a breach in protocol. He'll come running."

The chuunin tried not to flinch back at the evil smirk on the Godaime's face.

"H-hai, Tsunade-sama." He hoped for Kakashi-san's sake that he was in the meeting room, not in the archives.

(000)

_Kakashi:_

At that moment, Kakashi, who had been looking over family records of people who left Konoha in the archives, shivered when a cold draft blew on the back of his neck. The foreboding feeling from a few days ago had never really disappeared, but just now, he could have sworn it spiked.

Surely Tsunade-sama wouldn't know that he left a scarecrow in his stead midway through the council meeting... right?

The clan heads were not doing much except talking amongst themselves of the most recent gossip of the village, something about who had just gotten married and who had newborn children. The older clan heads were proudly showing off their grandnephews' and grandnieces' pictures to each other and the younger clan heads were bantering and bickering amongst themselves about how he or she was the best candidate for Shichidaime Hokage.

He would have left a Kage-bunshin, but with all the high-profile ninjas in the room, he had had a hard enough time switching places with the scarecrow.

It wasn't like the council meeting was for anything serious... just the confirmation of the Rokudaime Hokage candidate to step up for the Hokage position... But no one really had a problem with that, meaning all the official matters had actually ended fifteen minutes into the meeting.

He would be back in the meeting room by the time the clan heads had finished catching up and bickering, so no harm done.

...So why was his feeling of impending doom increasing?

(000)

_: In the Office Below the Hokage's_

The next ten minutes after Kakashi stepped into Tsunade-sama's office were said to be very tense for the office-chuunin posted below the Hokage's office.

Every ominous crash, creaking of floorboards, and dust from the ceiling only solidified their secret fear that they would die, not in enemy territory, but under the wreckage of the Hokage Tower.

{(S)}

_Tsunade:_

"You have a older sister."

"...Tsunade-sama?"

"Unfortunately, she died. My condolences. However, she left a little girl behind."

"... Tsunade-sama, are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"Congratulations on becoming an Uncle."

Though Tsunade had been expecting some sort of reaction, it seemed that she would be disappointed.

Kakashi stayed frozen in his standby position he usually took when reporting.

After a few moments of silence, Tsunade cast a diagnostic jutsu to make sure that the silver-haired jonin wasn't undergoing shock.

Perhaps she should have broken the news a little more gently?

She thought back to all the times he had been late, forcing her to reschedule meetings.

...Nah. Kakashi deserved it for making her suffer through paperwork.

{(S)}

_Kakashi:_

Kakashi still couldn't believe it.

His father, Hatake Sakumo, the White Fang of Konoha, had an illegitimate child outside of Konoha.

... Kakashi had even met him after his death during the Pein invasion, and he forgot to mention the little fact that he had another child?

Even if his father didn't know of it... wouldn't being dead mean getting some sort of omnipotent powers?

And not only that, the older sister he apparently had a daughter, meaning that the closest known relative was himself.

... He knew he was an eligible bachelor of Konoha, but he had planned on being the eternal bachelor of Konoha. He had enough trouble from teaching his genin and didn't want to go through the trouble of having a kid to baby-sit until _it_ was grown up enough to take care of itself.

While Kakashi was still freaking out (there was no other way to describe what he was doing), Tsunade was waving a hand across his blank eyes and saying his name into his ears.

A somewhat gentle chakra-laden flick to his hitai-ate finally woke him up from his shock.

Only then did Kakashi realize that his sensitive ears were ringing from Tsunade-sama's near-shouting in his ear.

"So, finally back?"

Kakashi gave her a small nod and a near inaudible 'hai'.

"I'm sure you know that you are the closest relation to the girl."

There was a squeak, or what someone might have sworn was a squeak, that came from Kakashi's direction. But it couldn't be Kakashi, as he never squeaked. Not even when he first met Gai in his spandex and was declared to be his 'Eternal Rival'.

Tsunade had a knowing smirk on her face, but turned serious again as she continued. "From the information that Genma has found in the girl's village, the mother – your sister – was unable to give any sort of information about the father, as she couldn't speak from choking. This means you are her acting guardian. I will send a messenger to the girl's hometown letting them know that she does have relations in the village, and will be staying with them."

"..."

Tsunade answered the unasked question as she turned to her desk to pick up some documents. "Yes, you have to. Who else is she going to stay with?" She continued as she ordered them and clipped them together.

"Your apartment is not suitable for two people. Go get a new place to live in today. And some furniture. She's going to be staying with the Inuzuka until your place is ready."

She placed a stack of documents on her desk. "Knowing you, you'll take a week to get the whole place together, with all the knickknacks in your apartment and the necessary security measures you take. But this _does not mean you are to avoid her until the last moment_."

Kakashi flinched, for that was exactly what he was thinking. Just prepare the apartment, give the girl a room, feed her, clothe her, send her to daycare... maybe, _maybe_ train her, but just avoid all contact besides the basics.

"Kakashi, this is not a genin team. From what I've heard from Sakura, you didn't do much except maintaining the team dynamics, not really giving them enough time to focus on individual strengths. This is a _child_. A child needs much, if not constant, attention. Think of it as 24/7 ANBU duty, only you don't hide."

Kakashi stayed silent, and Tsunade watched him a moment, before she gave a small sigh.

"Forget finding a new place for now, and go see your niece. Introduce yourself as her 'relation in Konoha'. No one has told her who she is related to or how she's related yet. For all she knows, she might get a younger sibling or a grandfather on his deathbed. Get to know each other before she moves in with you."

"Tsunade-sama - "

"No arguments. Consider it... an adopted puppy in your pack. Who will stay indefinitely, probably permanently." She paused, waiting for a response. "Well?"

Kakashi sighed deeply, clearly burdened by the task. He bowed giving his leader a subdued answer. "I'll do my best, Hokage-sama."

"Hmph. As you should. I will try and delay the Rokudaime inauguration to three months later instead of two. The paperwork should be better, as I have trained three secretaries."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. _So that was how Tsunade-sama still took shifts at the hospital,_ Kakashi mused. _I wonder if I can still be late to meetings..._

"Don't you _dare_ think that this gives you an excuse to be late. I have instructed all three that if you are more than ten minutes late for an inexcusable reason, they are free to drop their work for a whole week, leaving you with _all_ the work."

"Maa, you really do think of everything, Tsunade-sama."

"Of course. I've wanted to get rid of the paperwork for several years now. What better way besides 'Divide and Conquer?'"

"Hai, hai." Kakashi gave a salute and started walking out of the office.

Tsunade began shuffling more documents around, talking to Kakashi's retreating back. "And I haven't been distracted enough to forget to tell you to go to your niece for introductions right _now_."

Kakashi sighed. "Hai, Tsunade-sama."

He had hoped she would forget to specify _when_, as he could claim he was going to do it... eventually. He supposed that Tsunade-sama had years of practice of sidestepping distractions in political settings, so his relative inexperience in avoiding the topic didn't compare.

{(S)}

_Kakashi: Late Afternoon, Tree in Front of the Inuzuka Compound_

Kakashi was nervous. He hadn't been this on edge since he had watched the battle between Naruto and Sasuke from afar.

He was situated in a tree that was near the Inuzuka main entrance, fidgeting with his threadbare uniform. He almost let himself pace on the branch of the tree he was waiting on.

_...Almost_, but he was Kakashi, the man of a thousand jutsu, sensei of the three Dragons of Konoha. He couldn't exactly start showing his nervousness in public.

Aburame Shino's approaching chakra signature, and an unfamiliar chakra signature brought his attention to the road.

There she was.

His newfound niece.

She looked remarkably like himself – of course, in a much more feminine manner. He was strangely reminded of a time when he had been a genin and mask-less before he started making the mask a part of his never-changing uniform.

Her eyes were a dark brown reminiscent of dark amber compared to his dark storm-cloud gray. Her hair didn't defy gravity like his did. It stayed down in shoulder-length straight locks; silver, borderline steel-gray in color. Very Hatake.

He hesitated in appearing in front of them, as the girl – Tanaka Kumiko – seemed absorbed in watching the bustling village and the scenery around her.

Shino, one of the best trackers in Konoha or not, was not yet up to the level of sensing his hidden chakra signature. He did not notice Kakashi watching from the branch.

Kakashi took a deep, fortifying breath. He was never going to be able to talk to her if he kept stalling. He prepared to jump down when Shino suddenly stopped and turned to look up at a tree.

_"Kiba, come out now. Why? Your temporary charge has arrived."_

Inuzuka Kiba and his canine partner, Akamaru, dropped down behind his niece.

_"Aww, Shino, you're no fun! I totally wanted to surprise the kid!"_

Several loose leaves drifted down from the branch where Kakashi had been only a moment before. Shino and Kiba took note of the leaves as the product of a shunshin, but concluded it to have come from a passing ANBU.

Kakashi was nowhere to be found.

* * *

**A/N** \- I know what you're all thinking. Kakashi is _not_ Kumiko's father?

Well, it does seem pretty out of character for Kakashi, a careful and intelligent shinobi, to create a security risk for his village.

So, Sakumo, who was in the same age-group as Jiraiya, has become a womanizer for the sake of plot. (I mean, he doesn't come out often in the manga...)

Hint, hint about the next Rokudaime: it's _not_ Naruto. (I mean, to those who actually finished the Naruto series, it's pretty obvious... But I actually came up with this plot _before_ I was caught up to the manga, so... ha! My prediction was dead on! :D)

Cyber-love to all my Viewers/Reviewers. (Gosh, guys, thanks for all your Views/Reviews!)


	6. Doggie Patrol

**Previously:**

_Kakashi took a deep, fortifying breath. He was never going to be able to talk to her if he kept stalling. He prepared to jump down, when Shino_ _suddenly stopped and turned to look up at a tree._

"Kiba, come out now. Why? Your temporary charge has arrived."

_Inuzuka Kiba and his canine partner, Akamaru, dropped down behind his niece._

"Aww, Shino, you're no fun! I totally wanted to surprise the kid!"

_Several loose leaves drifted down from the branch where Kakashi had been only a moment before. Shino and Kiba took note of the leaves as the product of a shunshin, but concluded it to have come from a passing ANBU._

_Kakashi was nowhere to be found._

* * *

**Chapter 6: Doggie Patrol**

(Posted 2014-11-11, Updated 2015-01-02)

{(S)}

_Kakashi: Late Afternoon, Memorial Stone_

At the memorial stone, a well-known figure dropped from a shunshin with a small breeze. Several leaves floated down to rest on the base of the memorial stone.

Kakashi sighed, and brushed the leaves off.

"Obito... Rin... Sensei..."

He could hear them now.

_Bakakashi! You coward!_

_Kakashi-kun, don't make me come after you!_

_Kakashi, don't abandon a child; it's almost as bad as betraying the village. I understand you weren't able to be there for Naruto, but that and this are two different cases. ...So what are you still doing here?_

Kakashi sighed. It had been a while since he had come to the stone, but he had searched it out twice more than he usually did in the past week.

His team had not allowed him to brood in the first place, but this was the first in several years that all members of Team 7 were out on missions or busy enough with their work to forget that he had a tendency to brood.

...He really needed to stop distracting himself and face his niece.

What was it that Sensei had often said to him?

'Under the wing of a strong leader, cowardice cannot survive'?

... He certainly wasn't living up to the name of a strong leader now.

How was he supposed to take up the title of Rokudaime Hokage if he couldn't face a small girl who was supposed to be the daughter of a dead woman who he had no idea existed?

Not for the first time, he blamed Obito for making him take up the mantle of Hokage until Naruto was ready. ..._I'm going to step down as soon as Naruto gets a few years of experience as jonin and learns how to run the village._

He ran a hand through his hair. _I have to go find a new place big enough for two, possibly more, as Tenzo will more likely than not stay over from time to time..._

Not that a bigger apartment or even a house would make a dent in his savings. He had barely used any of his mission pay for the past several years.

A breeze swept by, carrying the many loose leaves left over from a shunshin. Absentmindedly, he followed the path of one to find himself facing Hokage mountain. _Ahh... Tsunade-sama with her frown..._

That's right, she would probably check if he did go see his niece... Well, she never said he had to go _himself_ to tell her who she was related to... Hmm.

"Kuchiyose-no-jutsu!"

Amidst a minimum of smoke, a small brown pug appeared wearing a hitai-ate and vest. On its blue vest was a heno-heno-moheji.

After the pug made sure that he was not in the middle of a situation that called for evasion skills, he turned to Kakashi with a lazy scratch to his ear.

"Kakashi, why did you call me? I was about to enjoy a nice nap..."

"Pakkun, I need you to..."

_Go and talk to a civilian girl?_ _Who may or may not freak out over the fact that dogs can talk? Introduce himself and his summoner to the said girl? Explain that the summoner was actually the uncle of the aforementioned girl? Did he mention that she was a _civilian_?_

"Well?"

"...Hmm."

Pakkun looked up at his summoner. "Kakashi?"

"I need you to go to the Inuzuka compound and introduce yourself to a little girl named Kumiko. She will have... the scent of some dried flowers: jasmine, pansy, and some other flower scent I can't seem to place from the top of my head."

The ninken nodded to show his understanding, then waited for Kakashi to continue briefing him about the situation.

When Kakashi remained silent, thinking about something, Pakkun took a sniff at his summoner's clothes. That was not a flower smell, that smelled too old, that... smelled about right.

Pakkun quirked an eyebrow. His summoner didn't actually come into contact with the source of the scent?

"Hey, Kakashi, why do I need to go talk to someone you didn't even meet yet?"

Kakashi flinched, but quickly covered the action with a wave of his hand. "Maa, maa, that's not really important, Pakkun."

Pakkun gave his summoner a deadpan stare. Kakashi sweat-dropped.

When his summoner didn't elaborate, Pakkun sighed and placed one of his paws on his face that looked eerily like a human facepalm. "Well? What kind of introduction am I supposed to give this girl?"

With a considering look at his summon, Kakashi gave a cautious proposal. "...Why don't you suggest she touch your paw pa -"

"No." Pakkun did not even look at his summoner as he cut him off after the word 'paw', choosing to examine his nails for any chips instead.

Kakashi waited for his summon to reconsider, but after waiting with no sign of Pakkun yielding, Kakashi gave up. "... Maa, such a bad summon, not listening to the summoner."

"Not when the summoner is being unreasonable and not telling the summon all there is to the mission before sending him off."

"..."

Pakkun gave his summoner the most caustic (but cute) stare he could make with his half-closed eyes and sad-looking face. Puppy-eyes level 5.

Kakashi raised his hands in a defensive, appeasing manner with a sigh. "...Alright, alright. The little girl... she's... related to me."

Pakkun raised one of his eyebrows in an unasked question. Kakashi nodded as an answer and elaborated. "It seems my otou-san had not exactly been... celibate before marrying okaa-san, and had a daughter out of wedlock. Who... in turn, had another daughter before her death five years ago."

"So, this little girl is your niece and Sakumo's granddaughter? ...Let me guess. Your dead older half-sister didn't know about her Hatake heritage, and you want me to go and talk to your niece about it."

Kakashi nodded, then hesitated once more, wondering how to explain why he _had_ to talk to his niece instead of watching from afar. Pakkun saw this hesitation and came to the correct conclusion. "...Tsunade-sama gave the girl's guardianship over to you as well, didn't she?"

"..."

"Seriously? And you are avoiding the girl? Kuniko-or-something-chan?"

"...It's Kumiko-chan. Tanaka Kumiko."

"Kakashi, you, _not me_, are going to talk to your niece about changing her surname."

At Kakashi's silence, Pakkun glanced up and added, "That is, if you want her to."

"..."

"...You owe me a big dog treat for making the Noble Dog summon _Pakkun-sama_ to do such a mundane job as this. The biggest one you can find."

"...Hai, hai."

{(S)}

_Kumiko: Late Afternoon, Inuzuka Compound_

Kumiko spent a long time trying to soak in the sights of the many different dogs around her, getting a good view from the giant dog she was riding.

They were walking through a small crowd dogs of various size and shape. She stared at all the dog pelts around her: she couldn't help marveling at a soft-looking one, gaping at rough-haired but interestingly-colored one, and wondering if she really glimpsed a bald-looking one. She hoped she was allowed to touch them...

As they walked through the diverse and large canine population (which slowly resumed their activities after the new scent was analyzed to be a _non-threat_), Kiba explained where they were. "Welcome to the Inuzuka clan compound! The best clan in Konoha, ever!"

He pointed towards the general area where the dogs were.

"As you can probably tell, the Inuzuka clan is a ninja clan that works closely with dog partners. The guy you're riding, that's my partner! He's the best nin-ken around!"

They slowly approached a big house, wading through the canine population. When they neared the house, Kiba yelled towards the house. "Kaa-san! Kuromaru! She's here!"

Kumiko looked up at the house. It was a two-story home with a large open area of packed dirt in front.

There were several large trees planted in strategic spots to give shade, and under one large tree in particular, there was a wooden platform that was perfect for sitting or lying down.

At the moment, it was occupied by three ash-gray colored dogs who were stretched out on it, sleeping. At their approach, one raised his head to see who had come by, but as soon as it saw Kiba, the ash-gray dog laid its head back on its neighbor.

When Kumiko looked back to Kiba, he saw where she was looking at and shook his head at their laziness. "They are the Haimaru brothers. Triplets. They're my nee-san's nin-ken partners."

Kiba sniffed the air, then tapped his foot muttered, "Where is she going? She was here a moment ago..."

Crossing his arms as he turned towards the Haimaru brothers, he asked them,"Hey, you guys know where kaa-san went? and where Kuromaru is?"

"Right behind you."

At the deep scratchy voice, the dog she was riding on flinched slightly, and both the dog and Kiba turned around quickly to face a black dog with an eye-patch.

Kuromaru, a giant black dog with a soft white fur on his chest, was sitting down on his haunches and observing them, specifically at Kumiko. He gave no outer reaction to the grumbles of the dog she was riding or Kiba's mutterings which sounded suspiciously like 'stupid old dog'.

Kumiko slowly slid off the soft back of her ride, stroking the soft fur behind the ruff as a thank you for the nice ride.

She turned to the black dog again and found him watching her movements with a sharp eye. She noticed that along with having only one eye, the black dog didn't have an ear as well.

The black dog spoke again in the deep scratchy voice that reminded her of one of her uncles in Namura, who had a loud and deep belly-laugh that echoed throughout the village. "So, is this the pup we are supposed to look after for a week?"

The dog next to her barked, and Kiba gave a small nod.

Kumiko decided to be polite, giving a small bow with her greeting. "Hajimemashite, Kuromaru-san."

Kuromaru gave a small growl back, but his stiff tail which had stayed in place started to sway from side to side. It wasn't quite a wag, but from the slight relaxing she felt from the dog whose neck she was still scratching, she had passed some kind of test.

"Don't bother with honorifics with dogs, pup. That's nonsense you only need for other humans. It's just Kuromaru."

"Aa, okay, ...Kuromaru?" Kumiko tilted the name as if a question, testing out how it sounded and making sure she was correct.

From wagging tail of the dog next to her and the small smile on Kiba's face, she was reassured that her small mistake was already forgiven.

Kiba sniffed the air again and glanced back towards the way they had come. "So, Kuromaru. Where's kaa-san?"

"She went to go buy some new pillows. Some of the newborn pups decided that the unmarked pillows left out were good enough to use for a game of tug-of-war." Kuromaru gave a small snort. "They were... appropriately punished."

"Oh."

Kumiko wondered what kind of punishment it was for Kiba to wince and his canine partner to give a sympathetic whine.

"Well, let's wait for kaa-san here then. Hey Haimaru!" Kiba called to the three gray dogs napping under the shade. "Can you guys get Hana-neesan? She's supposed to be here when kaa-san introduces Kumiko-chan."

The three slowly got up, shook out their fur and started walking towards a small house to the right of the main house near the walls of the compound a short distance away, but before they walked several steps, Kuromaru barked several times, which caused the triplets and the dog next to her to tense up and give the older dog their full attention. As soon as Kuromaru stopped barking, all four dogs ran off somewhere, leaving a clueless Kumiko and a sweat dropping Kiba.

Kuromaru turned his sharp eyes to Kiba and huffed, "Hmph. I'll let Tsume decide what to do with you, _pup_."

He then walked over to the bench that the Haimaru brothers had vacated and lied down.

Confused, Kumiko looked up at Kiba for an explanation.

Kiba scratched at his triangular marks with a sheepish look. "Aa, well, he just told us that we all needed to work harder on our situational awareness skills... they were sent off on a kind of... short training lap."

"Oh."

A brief silence filled the clearing.

Kumiko gazed longingly where the dogs had gone; she had quite liked the feeling of the dog's fur, and she dared not approach Kuromaru to ask if she could touch it.

While she stood remembering, she realized that though they all had similar names, Kiba's partner had looked different from the others. "Ne, nii-san. Why does Shiromaru look different from Kuromaru and the Haimaru brothers?"

"...Who's Shiromaru?"

Kumiko blinked at him, wondering if it was a joke. "Your partner...?"

"You mean Akamaru?"

"...Aka...maru? But he's white, not red."

"He turns red when he does a special technique with me by eating a soldier pill."

Kumiko tried to understand. "But... did you know Akamaru turn red from the first day you two met? How did you know he would turn red and not blue?"

"Huh... good question..." Kiba struck up a thinking pose with closed eyes and a hand under his chin.

Suddenly, he placed a fist in his hand with an enlightened expression on his face. "From the moment Akamaru and I met, I knew we would become the best nin-duo ever! That's how I knew Akamaru would turn red before he even tried doing the combo with me!"

Kumiko couldn't help but give Kiba a deadpan stare. Even she, a five-year-old, could tell he was not being honest. Before she had a chance to say anything, a husky woman's voice came from the direction of the gates.

"Kiba, stop filling the pup's ears with crap." The two turned to find a woman with wild brown hair and same triangular marks as Kiba approached them, carrying two pillows under each arm.

"But, kaa-san, it's so much fun!"

The woman outright ignored him and turned to Kumiko. "So, this is the pup?"

Kumiko bowed and greeted the woman. "Hajimemashite, oba-san."

"I want none of that formality bullsh - I mean, idiocy. Just call me Tsume or Inu-bachan or something."

Kumiko quirked her head to the side. 'Tsume' sounded too informal, and 'Inu-bachan' didn't sound _exactly_ right.

"...Then, Ha-basan?"

After a moment of silence, during which everyone connected the 'tooth' to Tsume's appearance, Kuromaru gave a small snort. Tsume gave a bark of laughter and ruffled Kumiko's hair. "Hah! I like this one! Yeah, call me Ha-basan."

"Hey, hey! Does that mean I'm Ha-neesan?"

Kumiko turned to find a younger woman with similar triangular, tooth-like shapes on her cheeks. "Mn... Okay...? But are there any more people with triangles on their faces? Then I can't..."

This new person chuckled at that. "There are only three people in the clan with these marks right now. My name is Hana, but you can call me Ha-neesan as long as you call kaa-san 'Ha-basan' and Kiba 'Ha-niisan'."

Kumiko solemnly nodded, causing Hana to giggle.

Kumiko noted that the three all had brown, spiky hair done up in a similar fashion. Since she knew that Kiba-san was related to Ha-basan... "Ne, Ha-neesan, are you the nee-san that Ha-niisan mentioned? The partner to the Haimaru brothers?"

With a wink, Hana nodded. "Yep." She sniffed and turned to Kiba. "Talking about Haimaru... Why are they running around the compound anyway?"

"Aa... well..."

Kuromaru turned to Hana and barked twice, which made her huff in exasperation. "Seriously, Kuromaru. How are they supposed to be aware of you when you are as sneaky as a shadow?"

Tsume gave a snort. "He's still going easy on them." The Inuzuka Alpha turned to her son. "Kiba, I also expect you to do an extra set of training exercises with a standard handicap after this."

"But – !"

"Want me to increase that to level two handicap training?"

Kiba shivered. "N-no, I'll do them, I'll do them!" Hana hid a small smirk behind a hand.

Tsume looked satisfied with the answer. She then handed the pillows over to Hana and jumped onto the platform next to Kuromaru. The clan head took two fingers and loudly whistled a sequence of notes: there was a strange stillness in the air for a moment.

All of a sudden, dogs came pouring into the clearing; some from the trees, most from the open area Kumiko had passed through, and a few from underground.

When the clearing was teeming with dogs, Tsume called out in a loud voice. "Atten-tion!" All movements stilled as all the dogs turned their attention to Tsume.

"Starting today, this girl is going to stay in the compound for a week! If there ever is a time when she looks to be alone, fall back to Inuzuka academy student protocols! Be discreet if she doesn't want company. Let your partners know of this development, code blue! Am I understood?"

At that, there was a synchronized answer of barks, yips, woofs, and various versions of 'Hai, Alpha'.

Tsume nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Dismissed."

While most dogs scattered back to where they had been before, some of the dogs approached Kumiko to take a better whiff of her scent.

Of course, they were quite polite about it. The ones that could talk introduced themselves, while the ones that couldn't barked at either Kiba or Hana, who translated their introductions for her.

They even allowed Kumiko to give a them small pat and touch their fur. She did her best to remember their names and partners.

Soon, only one dog was left. It was a small brown pug, and it introduced itself.

At the sight of the dog, Kiba and Hana's eyes widened in recognition and surprise.

Kumiko remained oblivious to their reactions, more focused on the dog's paw pads he was raising in greeting like a hand. All the other dogs' paw pads had been tough looking, but this pug's pink ones looked quite soft. She wondered if asking to touch them were impolite dog manners.

"Yo. I'm Pakkun, partner to Kakashi."

"Hajimemashite, Pakkun."

"I will stay with you today." Then the summon dog turned to the Inuzuka Alpha, giving her an exasperated look. At that Tsume snorted, muttering 'lazy ass'. (Kumiko realized the significance of that mutter many days later)

Tsume cleared her throat and gave a hard stare at Kumiko. "Pup, today you are to stay within the compounds with Pakkun. You can wander around anywhere inside and outside, unless one of the dogs or people stop you." Kuromaru looked up and gave Kumiko a sharp look as well. Tsume continued. "Is it clear that you are to stay _inside_ the compound?"

Kumiko nodded solemnly. Both Tsume and Kuromaru looked pleased at her compliance.

Kuromaru half-growled, "Hmm. Good... Not so troublesome as your brat, Tsume." He laid his head back down on his paws, his eye half-open.

At that, Tsume quickly turned and barked at her son, who was trying to sneak away, probably to escape his extra training. "Kiba! Get her things from the office-chunin at the Hokage tower and place them in the guest room. I expect you to go do the extra training exercise immediately afterwards. Am I understood?"

"H-hai, kaa-san..."

Kiba plodded dejectedly toward the main gates of the compound, while Hana waved to Kumiko with a brief 'see you at dinner' and leisurely made her way towards the smaller house near the compound walls.

The Inuzuka Alpha then led Kumiko and Pakkun along a road that circled around to the back of the big house. They came into another clearing, this one with training targets on one end and a small stream on the other.

Tsume vaguely gestured towards the field and explained, "This is the basic training ground for the dogs. The dogs usually use it as the main meeting place though. You can think of it as a plaza of sorts, where they greet and gossip with each other."

Kumiko took a tentative sniff. The smell of overturned dirt, some kind of oil, leather, and metal made up the majority of the scents in the clearing, with the subtler scents intertwining confusingly with each other, reminding her of the marketplace she had seen on the way to the Hokage tower.

She turned back to Tsume to find her watching with an eyebrow raised.

When Kumiko looked away in embarrassment, Tsume chuckled and asked her what she smelled.

"Just a lot of overturned dirt, oil, leather and metal... and a lot of other confusing smells, Ha-basan."

"Aa." Tsume shared a look with Pakkun again, then turned back to Kumiko with a small smile.

"Pup, I need to get back to do some work, so stick with Pakkun, alright? He is familiar with the compound and knows enough of the human world to answer all your questions. Ask him whatever, and if you need me, just yell for Kuromaru, got it?"

"Hai, Ha-basan. Um. I'll see you later...?"

"Yeah, I'll call you in ten minutes before dinner. Feel free to roll around in the dirt, climb the trees, or _he_ – eck, jump in the water for a swim, I don't care as long as you stay in the compound."

"...Aa. Thank you, Ha-basan."

{(S)}

_Kumiko:_

Pakkun was a small pug, with soft brown fur and darker brown ears, tails and face.

_His half-closed eyes made him look sleepy and really cute..._

Kumiko spent a several minutes walking around the training ground with him, silently sniffing strongly-scented areas with him and slowly differentiating the subtler scents in the clearing.

When they reached the small stream, Kumiko turned to the small pug with a question. "Pakkun, how come some of the dogs can talk while others can't?"

"It depends on the dog. Some of them don't want to learn the human language, while some want to coordinate better with their human partners, so take the time to learn to communicate better."

After a slight pause, Pakkun continued. "The Inuzuka clan has a Kekkai-Genkai of sorts; they can understand canine language, so it's not as necessary for the dog partners to learn the human language for their teamwork. That's why Kuromaru can talk while Akamaru can't."

"Aa, okay." Kumiko gazed down at the stream, where she could see some small fish swimming in the clear water. She sat down on a rock and carefully took off her sandals.

As she dipped her feet into the cold water, she asked the quiet dog another question. "...Pakkun? Could you tell me more about your partner? ...Kakashi, right?"

She looked at the heno-heno-moheji on the dog's vest. A scarecrow... this Kakashi person seemed to be a humorous person, if he made his dog partner to wear his 'name'.

Pakkun seemed to steel himself and took a deep breath before starting with, "Well, his name is Hatake Kakashi, elite jonin of Konoha..."

Kumiko shifted and settled more comfortably in her seat, catching Pakkun's story-time voice.

She slowly paddled her feet through the cool water and wondered if it was going to be a good story...

* * *

Footnotes

Kuchiyose-no-jutsu: Summoning jutsu

Heno-heno-moheji: a face drawn using hirigana characters. Usually the faces are of scarecrows.

Kuromaru: 'Kuro' - black. 'Maru' - an often-used ending for a name

Haimaru: 'Hai' - ash, gray. 'Maru' - an often-used ending for a name

Hajimemashite: Nice to meet you

Shiromaru: 'Shiro' - white. 'Maru' - an often-used ending for a name

Akamaru: 'Aka' - red. 'Maru' - an often-used ending for a name (Up till now, Kuromaru and Haimaru were named for their fur, which explains Kumiko's confusion over Akamaru's name)

Inu-bachan: Dog-Auntie

Other General Background Information

Inuzuka: 'Inu' - dog. 'Zuka' - hill or mound.

Kiba: fang

Hana: nose (or flower, but it is written as nose)

Tsume: claw, talon

Kakashi: scarecrow

* * *

**A/N** \- Oh, Kakashi. Your shinobi skills are worth almost nothing when you become a parent/guardian...

People, a shout-out for reviewers and PMers that gave me constructive criticism and helped me make my story better. Your critiques are greatly appreciated! Leave a review/PM on what you liked, what you hated, etc. etc.

Next chapter, Kakashi and Kumiko will finally meet! (Fin-all-y!)

Lots of cyber-love for Reviewers/Viewers!


	7. Dinner and an Introduction

**Previously:**

_"...Pakkun? Could you tell me more about your partner? ...Hatake-san, right?"_

_She looked at the heno-heno-moheji on the dog's vest. A scarecrow... this Kakashi person seemed to be a humorous person, if he made his dog partner to wear his 'name'._

_Pakkun seemed to steel himself and took a deep breath before starting with, "Well, his name is Hatake Kakashi, elite jonin of Konoha..."_

_Kumiko shifted and settled more comfortably in her seat, catching Pakkun's story-time voice._

_She slowly paddled her feet through the cool water and wondered if it was going to be a good story..._

* * *

**Chapter 7: Dinner and an Introduction**

(Posted 2014-11-30, Updated 2015-01-02)

{(S)}

_Kakashi: Early Evening, Random Tree in Inuzuka Compound_

"So what are you doing up here instead of down there along with your summon, introducing yourself?"

Kakashi acted nonchalantly at the appearance of the Inuzuka clan head beside him, keeping his eyes glued to the pages of the book he had been pretending to read. "Hmm... Well, I was in the middle of this chapter where Yoko gets ravished by Ma-" He ducked a swipe to his head.

"Stop with the bullcrap and answer the question, Hatake!" The clan head hissed, hands on her hips.

Kakashi glanced at the infuriated woman, then proceeded to flip the page of his book without answering.

Tsume suddenly looked as if struck with a horrid thought. "Don't tell me you were going to stalk her for a week."

A beat of silence.

Kakashi looked up at the clan head again, as if he had just found her there. "...Hmm, what was that?"

The clan head did not look amused. "Uh-huh. And when would you actually talk to her?"

Kakashi pretended to think about it, and when the impatient Alpha started cracking her knuckles, he gave her his signature curvy eye-smile. "...After Pakkun finishes?"

Tsume paused in her knuckle-cracking, cocking her head to listen in on the conversation below. After a few moments, she growled, "He finished a while ago. They're just talking about the plants that grow around here."

The masked ninja ducked behind his book. "And it is a very interesting conversation. It would be a pity for me to interrupt."

Tsume glared at Kakashi, preparing to threaten his porn stash when Kuromaru landed next to her, giving his partner a soft growl.

Whatever news Kuromaru had conveyed to his partner distracted Tsume from inflicting pain to the silver-haired jonin. She clenched her fists, glaring back towards the main clan house. "Hmph, those pup-bratlings!"

As the Alpha grumbled to herself about the idiocy of some pups, Kuromaru turned to Kakashi and proceeded to bare his teeth and growl, "I'd expected better from the future Rokudaime. Stop this foolishness, _pup_."

Tsume looked approvingly down at her life-long nin-ken partner. She turned again to Kakashi to find that he had closed the luridly-colored book of porn. She watched him observe his niece - who was listening closely to Pakkun's description of some flower fields nearby - with an unreadable look in his eyes.

The clan head uncrossed her arms with a sigh. "Hatake, take her to dinner tonight. I expect her back before it gets dark." The clan head turned her head to her partner. "Let's go, Kuromaru. We've got pups to discipline." The black dog snorted in affirmation and jumped towards a branch, aiming a bite towards Kakashi as he left.

Kakashi dodged the bite quite easily, being the elite shinobi he was; but he did not expect Tsume's kick working in tandem with her partner, forcing the silver-haired ninja to dodge again. By the time he recovered from his surprise, he found himself in mid-air, falling towards the stream below.

With a small mutter, Kakashi glanced around for a place to land with a discreet shunshin, tucking his porn under his arm to free up his hands for handseals. When he was about half-way through the handseals, he glimpsed Tsume in the treeline, glaring at him, going through her own sets of handseals in preparation for the Gatsuga.

Before he could change the direction of his descent, a near silent Gatsuga - _didn't know that was possible_ \- just barely missed him and the passing force of the jutsu slammed him into the shallow stream below with a loud splash.

He immediately sat up, spluttering, fishing around the water for the Icha Icha he had lost his grip on. He gave a silent sigh when he found it wet but still legible. However, his relief was short-lived when he heard Pakkun's throat-clearing on the banks of the stream. Kakashi turned to see his main summons looking at him with exasperation.

His niece was peering at him with wide eyes, glancing at Pakkun for reassurance. "Um... Are you okay? Pakkun, should I call Kuromaru and Ha-obasan and tell them that someone fell out of the tree?"

Kakashi wordlessly walked out of the water and started to wring out the water from his clothing.

Pakkun breathed a small sigh, a paw over his face. "No need. Kumiko-chan, meet my summoner, Hatake Kakashi."

After a brief pause to let the message sink in, Kakashi gave an eye-smile and a wave. "Hajimemashite, Kumiko-chan. I hope you only heard good things about me from Pakkun?"

She glanced at the dog, who looked smug for some reason. She distinctly remembered him saying, "_Kakashi is your oji-san, but he is also... an incorrigible pervert who is always late!"_

"...Hajimemashite...?" She paused, unsure of what to call the wet man after experiencing Tsume's dislike for honorifics.

The silver-haired jonin took off his vest and shook out the water before it had a chance to seep into the material. "Maa, call me Kakashi."

"Kakashi-ojisan, then?"

"Aa." He shook out his feet to displace the water that had collected in the heels of his sandals.

"Mn... Is it true that Pakkun's your nin-ken partner, but because he's a summon, he doesn't stay with you all the time like Akamaru does with Ha-niisan?"

"Aa." Kakashi shook out his hair, not unlike a wet dog.

Kumiko watched silently, transfixed as his damp hair became gravity-defying once more. She unconsciously touched her own silver locks, curling the straight strands into her fingers. Her actions did not go unnoticed by the jonin and his summon, but both chose not to comment.

The little girl opened and closed her mouth, about to speak but stopping herself for some reason. She didn't take her eyes off of her older relation, comparing her own features to Kakashi, unknowingly fingering her earlobe, eyes, then the edges of her eyebrows in the silence. When the older man seemed to have mostly dried off, she gathered the courage to speak up. "...Are you really my oji-san?"

Kakashi stopped in the middle of shaking out the water in his book and looked down at the little girl. "...Aa."

"And... you didn't know about my kaa-san or my tou-san or me, so you never visited before..."

Dark, unreadable stormy gray eyes met amber brown for a few seconds, before they turned away towards his book once more. "...Aa."

Awkward silence.

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Well. Let's do formal introductions. Likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams? That's what normal introductions involve, isn't it?"

Kumiko simply looked confused. "I... don't know?"

Kakashi faltered imperceptibly before waving her answer away. "Never mind, never mind." He belatedly recalled that she was from a very rural village, and had probably not had an opportunity for introductions before. "So, what are your likes, dislikes, hobbies and dreams?"

Kumiko blinked at the question in surprise, but readily began to answer. "Likes... Mn, I like my fam-" She paused, a shadow passing her eyes. She turned her face away towards the stream to watch the small fish. "... I like playing in the fields. I like to... I like touching soft things. Like Akamaru's fur."

Kakashi couldn't help but complete the word she didn't say._ 'I like my "family"' is the most logical thing to say. But she doesn't see her foster family as family anymore? Why did she stop talking about them?_

Unknowing of the jonin's thoughts, the little girl continued. "I dislike... being sick and getting hurt. Mn... I don't think I have a hobby...?"

Kakashi thought through the situation once more; this was a civilian five-year-old; even if she was smart, she would have been treated as any other civilian child, meaning she was not treated like an individual, much less expected to develop opinions.

Meanwhile, Kumiko struggled to explain her 'dreams', finding it difficult to find the words to describe them. "My dreams... are strange. They are difficult to understand."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed slightly as he waited for elaboration, but it didn't come. _Difficult to explain her dreams... the dreams for the future or dreams she has when sleeping?_

When the silence stretched, Pakkun silently crept behind his summoner and gave him a small poke with his paw. Kakashi glanced down at his summon and took the hint.

"Aa... right. My turn. As you know, my name is Hatake Kakashi. I like..." _Not much._ "...Dogs. I dislike..." _Making mistakes._ "...paperwork. My hobbies... eh..." _Reading Icha Icha... But if I say it, I have a feeling that Tsume in the bushes behind me will really hit me with her Gatsuga this time..._ "...Hm. As for my dreams... er." _Definitely did not involve having a child to look after._

Kumiko looked up at her newfound uncle with a questioning look when he didn't speak for a long time. Kakashi gave her his signature eye-smile as he changed the topic. "So... Kumiko-chan. What's your favorite food?"

Kumiko blinked at the question. "Umm. I don't know...?"

"Maa, then we'll have to find it, hmm? For today..." Kakashi racked his brains for a restaurant that was child-friendly. The shops he frequented were usually shinobi-oriented, meaning quite a bit - 'a bit' meaning a _great deal_ \- of alcohol. (No alcohol near children - he knew that much about child-rearing. Give him a break, it's not like he wanted to lead an innocent child down the path of adulthood _that_ quickly)

"Hmm, there's a shop I often go to for good grilled food. They have delicious okonomiyaki and yakisoba. Have you tried them before?"

"...No. I think I've had yakitori before, but..." A sudden growl from her stomach made her blush.

Kakashi eye-smiled at her, his mouth quirking up into a oji-smile without his knowledge. "...Would you like to go eat with me then?"

"Umm..." Kumiko looked torn for some reason, but her floundering was soothed away with the appearance of Kuromaru.

"Pup, Pakkun. ...Hatake." Kuromaru sounded disgruntled when he faced the silver-haired jonin.

_Probably still irked that he had missed biting me earlier,_ Kakashi thought with a hidden grin.

Kumiko spoke up. "Um, Kuromaru... Kakashi-ojisan asked me if I wanted to go eat dinner with him..."

"I heard. I'll tell Tsume where you are, and that you'll miss dinner today," Kuromaru turned his head towards Kakashi and bared his teeth at the jonin, conveniently hiding his expression from Kumiko in the process. "... If you want to go with Hatake."

Kumiko slowly nodded, then walked over to Kakashi and shyly grabbed ahold of his shirt sleeve. "...Okay."

{(S)}

_Kakashi:_

Kumiko had no idea that she and Kakashi was earning (hidden) contemplative looks from all over the village as they meandered through the restaurant district.

Several people even outrightly stalked them, uncaring that Kakashi could sense them. The list included a certain cat-masked ANBU, Genma, and Gai; but as more time passed and more shinobi noticed the elite jonin (future Hokage to most of the higher echelons of the shinobi force) holding hands with a small silver-haired girl, the list only increased. Their similarity was noted and numerous bets were placed on whether the girl was his daughter or not.

Kakashi couldn't help but sweat-drop at the very conspicuous (but still shinobi-level) stalkers, but he had other things to worry about... like his niece's small, childish hand in his own battle-roughened hand. He had taken her hand when he realized that his shirt sleeve was difficult to hold onto, and ever since then, his niece had kept looking up at him when she thought he couldn't see.

...And he had trouble remembering the directions to that restaurant that sold the tasty grilled food. Now, what was that place called again...?

{(S)}

_Kakashi:_

"Welcome to Tekitei! Table for two?" Kakashi nodded, and soon after, they were seated in a table in the back.

They were each given a menu, then left alone.

Kakashi opened up the menu, glad that there were pictures with each food. "The yakisoba is good here, but you can get anything that you want."

Kumiko opened her menu as well, her mouth watering from the aroma wafting from the nearby table. "Hai."

After a few minutes of perusal, a harried-looking waitress arrived to take their order. Taking out a pen and notepad, she quickly spat out, "WhatcanIgetyouthisevening?"

Kakashi turned to the little girl sitting across from him. "Kumiko-chan? Are you finished choosing?"

The small silver-haired girl looked a little overwhelmed, staring at the waitress while speaking in a small voice, "...Can I have the yakisoba?"

Kakashi turned back to the waitress. "Two yakisoba please."

"Drinks?"

Kakashi turned to his niece again. "Hmm. Any preferences?"

"W-water please...?"

"Let's go with water."

"Hai, thatwouldbetwoyakisobasandtwowaters?"

"Aa."

"Anything else?"

Kakashi once again turned to Kumiko, who looked wide-eyed at the waitress' fast talking. She shook her head in a negative.

The waitress' busy tone slowed and her hardened stare softened a little as she gestured behind her and said, "If you would like, we have coloring books while you wait for your food..."

The older Hatake quickly answered, as if a drowning man grabbing a lifeline. "Please."

The newly-minted uncle and niece waited for the waitress in silence, watching as she retrieved things from the service counter nearby. She returned with two cups of water, some wet towels to wipe their hands, and a coloring book with a set of crayons.

When the waitress left, Kumiko opened the coloring book to a random page and looked intently into it for a few seconds. Kakashi watched her, wondering why she was staring at the innocent picture of the woman petting a cat. "Maa, you might set the book on fire with all the staring you're doing, Kumiko-chan."

Kumiko looked back at her uncle, puzzled. "But... why should I color in pictures that someone else drew?"

Kakashi blinked. _Wait, she was from a sheltered village..._ "...Have you ever seen a coloring book before?"

"..."

"...I see. Well, a coloring book is a book filled with already drawn pictures, and I've heard that children think it's fun to color it in..." Kakashi trailed off, watching as Kumiko closed the book firmly and pushed it away.

"No thank you." Kumiko quietly mumbled, eyes flicking up at her uncle uncertainly.

"...Aa, that's fine. You don't have to color..." The silver-haired jonin quickly cast his thoughts for something else to do while waiting for the food, but came up blank. _What do you do with children, anyway?_

An awkward silence filled their area. Kakashi pulled out his wet Icha Icha and hid behind the book to pull down his mask and take a sip of water... only to nearly spit-take at his niece's next words.

"Mn... Kakashi-ojisan... What does 'I-cha I-cha Tactics' mean?"

Kakashi vaguely heard some spit-takes and coughing in the restaurant, probably from his stalkers, but ignored it in favor of questioning the little girl.

"...You can read?" _I thought she was raised by civilians... They don't teach them to read this early... do they?_

Kumiko looked embarrassed and slightly pleased at his surprise. "A little. Oba-san read me the same storybook so many times that I learned the letters, then oji-san found me trying to read his books, so he taught me."

Kakashi immediately put away his precious porn. _Something he had to hide in the new apartment..._

He looked back at his niece to find her watching him with expectation, then realized he had not answered her question of what 'Icha Icha Tactics' meant. "...A-Aa... Icha Icha means... uh..." Kakashi gulped subtly as he felt a familiar chakra spiking and heard combat gloves snapping into place in preparation for a punch. "...It means to act lovingly towards another person."

Kumiko was oblivious to his discomfort, a contemplative look in her eyes. "Oh... So... 'tactics to act lovingly towards another person'...?"

"Y-yes." _Phew, dodged that one._

"Can I read it too?"

Again, chokes, spit-takes and even chuckles from different areas of the restaurant was heard, letting Kakashi know the exact location of the stalkers he had been aware of but had not been paying attention to.

He could feel the distinct killer-intent aimed at him from the various kunoichi who were listening in on this conversation... they would probably line up to have a _private chat_ with him later if he didn't handle this situation correctly... Kakashi nervously cleared his throat and asked his niece, "...Why do you want to read it?"

Kumiko fiddled with the pouch hanging from her neck, slightly opening and closing the opening. A wave of the peculiar floral smell that had hung around his niece alerted Kakashi of the source of the scent. _A recent present of some sort? The scent is relatively new and had not meshed with the girl's base scent yet._

His niece quietly murmured, "...I want to learn how to act lovingly towards another person." What humor their stalkers had felt before dampened, replaced by a more serious atmosphere tinged with curiosity. Kakashi remained still as he met her amber-brown eyes with a searching look.

A brief staring-contest later, the older Hatake asked, "Why?" ..._Perhaps related to why she stopped speaking about her family before?_

Kumiko simply shook her head, not wishing to talk anymore. After waiting a few more moments to make sure she didn't want to talk, Kakashi eye-smiled at her and patted her head, much like he would to comfort his dog-summons for a mission gone wrong. "...Aa, alright then. But... well, this book is not really... aimed for children. I'll find you another one later, okay?"

Kumiko looked down at her pouch, fidgeting with the strings. "...Okay."

The awkward silence that filled the air again was soon broken by the harried waitress returning with their food.

"Your yakisoba." The waitress set down their food and cutlery in front of them, chopsticks for Kakashi and a fork for Kumiko. The little girl took her fork then placed her hands together and quietly said an 'Itadakimasu', a motion that Kakashi readily copied.

The older shinobi watched as his niece cautiously took a bite. As soon as she tasted the food, she smiled at her uncle, happy with the meal. "It's good."

At the simple surprise and delight of the child, Kakashi smiled a small oji-smile again, covered by his ever-present mask. "Maa, glad you like it, Kumiko-chan."

Kakashi spent some time watching his niece struggling to not spill any food, when he realized what he was doing and quickly started on his own meal.

The next few minutes was spent with Kumiko focused on eating the noodles placed in front of her. But when she next looked up to peek at her new oji-san, she found to her consternation that Kakashi's dish was already empty. Her eyes widened and her mouth stopped chewing in surprise. "Kakashi-ojisan, did you just finish an entire plate while I ate this much?"

Kakashi didn't hide amusement from his voice when he answered, "Hmm... What do you think?"

Kumiko sat thinking for a while, then came to a conclusion. "Someone stole your plate of food while you weren't looking, didn't they."

"...Aa... no."

Kumiko thought a bit more, taking a sip from her cup. "Did you... spill it all in your lap?"

"Nope."

"You didn't like it, so threw it away?"

"No, it was delicious."

"...So you did eat it all?" The little girl looked astonished that it was possible to eat that much in such a short amount of time.

Kakashi got into a thinking pose, his hand rubbing at his masked chin. "...Hmm."

The silver-haired girl looked a little miffed that her uncle didn't give clear-cut answers, but looked slightly concerned. "Mn, Kakashi-ojisan, you must have been really hungry then. Do you want more food? ...I don't think I can finish mine, so if you want, you can have some..."

"Aa... that's okay, Kumiko-chan." He couldn't exactly explain that he couldn't eat with his mask down when this many shinobi were watching his every move.

"So... I have to eat by myself..." Usually, her little mutter was exactly that, sentiments not intended for other people's ears; but to all the shinobi eavesdropping with chakra-enhancement, it was as clear as speaking into a microphone.

Kakashi couldn't help but shiver at the collective killer-intent coming towards him. "...Aa, Kumiko-chan, I'm suddenly feeling hungry... Have you ever had takoyaki? It's something we can share..."

"What's takoyaki?"

"...Why don't you see for yourself." Kakashi waved to a waitress and ordered a serving. The food came quite quickly, which made him suspect that some of his 'stalkers' had probably had a _word_ with the cook.

The round balls of takoyaki certainly looked appealing, with the dried fish flakes on top curling in on itself from the heat. Kakashi took one and gave it to her on the serving toothpick. "Here, try one, Kumiko-chan."

She took the takoyaki-laden toothpick, dubiously staring at the slight movements of the dried flakes on top.

"Don't worry, it's not alive. It's just the heat making the dried fish-flakes move."

"...If you say so, Kakashi-ojisan."

A few moments of chewing the new food, Kumiko smiled her approval. "It's good."

This time, Kakashi felt his mouth quirk into the infamous loving smile at her happiness. _Huh, never knew I could smile like this... Perhaps the whole guardian thing isn't so difficult after all._

His musings were cut short when Kumiko, who had been staring at the toothpick in her hand, asked, "Hey, Kakashi-ojisan, have you seen a long metal toothpick before? Do you ever use it after eating?"

Kakashi heard Genma's distinct chuckle from a nearby table, but pretended not to hear, intrigued by his niece's description. "A metal toothpick?"

"Mn. It was about this long, and the person who brought me to Konoha had one in his mouth all the time." Kumiko gestured with a hand. "I wondered how it didn't fall out while he was speaking. And he didn't sound like anything was in his mouth either." She took up her fork again and took another bite of her meal.

Kakashi glanced in the direction where he had sensed Genma earlier. "Maa... was the man's name Shiranui Genma?"

"Mn." Kumiko nodded. She swallowed her mouthful and asked, "Do you know him?"

"Maa, he's a comrade, though you could also say we are friends..." Kakashi picked up a takoyaki on another toothpick. "And by the way Kumiko-chan, that 'metal toothpick' is called a senbon. It's actually a sharp throwing weapon."

"Oh." She watched him as he took the takoyaki closer to his mouth. Kakashi, curious as to his niece's reaction to his policy of never showing his face, quickly ate the takoyaki when she blinked, not giving her a chance to see his face.

She blinked again in surprise when the takoyaki disappeared from his toothpick, and her newfound uncle munching. The silver-haired girl frowned a little, then asked, "Mn... Kakashi-ojisan, why do you have a mask while eating?"

Kakashi swallowed his mouthful of takoyaki. "Well... The mask is a tradition of the Hatake clan."

Kumiko thought a little while chewing on another bite. "Hatake clan... Pakkun explained that it was one of the clans that came into Konoha from the very beginning, but because of the wars over the years... everyone died... except you."

Kakashi shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "...Yes."

Kumiko slowly put down her fork. "Did... did you know any other Hatake people?"

The jonin gave his niece a small eye-smile, but it was a sad one. "No, I've not met any other Hatake besides my tou-san before."

The girl's face fell, and she grew even quieter, sad for him. "...Weren't you lonely? When... your tou-san died?"

Kakashi hesitated, not really wishing to talk about it at a restaurant. _Or anywhere else, for that matter._ "... Maa, we'll talk about it next time."

Kumiko looked down at her still half-full plate. "Mn... Kakashi-ojisan, I don't think I can eat any more..."

"That's fine. Are you finished?"

"Un."

"Then let's get going." Kakashi stood from the table and walked with his niece to the cashier. As Kakashi paid for their meal, he sensed the majority of the stalkers leaving, respecting that he would want some privacy and that they had stretched his patience long enough.

_They probably went to spread the news further and set up betting stakes about who Kumiko-chan was,_ Kakashi thought with a mental sigh. He noted that the ones who remained behind them were discreet enough so as to not interrupt their evening.

An awkward silence once again stretched between them as they stepped outside after the jonin paid for their meal.

"Mn... Thank you for the meal, Kakashi-ojisan."

"...You're welcome, Kumiko-chan."

Kakashi looked around, noting that it was late afternoon and that it was several hours before Tsume expected Kumiko back. "Maa... why don't we take a walk to digest?" He gave her an eye-smile, hiding his awkwardness behind his mask. "I could show you around the village."

Kumiko cautiously reached for her uncle's sleeve again with a small nod. "Okay."

Kakashi again took her hand from the shirt sleeve and held onto the small childish hand into his own. Kumiko glanced up, but made no comment.

They walked sedately around the village, visiting the park and aimlessly meandering place to place along with the other families who were out for the evening. But unlike the families around them who were chatting away about mundane things, the silver-haired uncle and niece duo remained silent, only speaking when Kakashi explained the history of the occasional landmark or when Kumiko asked a question about an object they passed by.

By the time the sun had near disappeared over the horizon, they had wandered back towards the Inuzuka compound. Kumiko looked tired and was in a reflective mood as she slowly walked beside her new oji-san, which Kakashi noticed. He walked at a slower pace that matched hers and kept silent so to not disturb her thoughts.

When they arrived at the gates, they found Kuromaru lying next to it, seemingly taking a nap. But as soon as they passed a tree a few yards away from the gates, Kuromaru raised his head from its resting place. He gave a strange little huff-growl at Kakashi, then turned to Kumiko, giving her a once look-over. He grunted a greeting. "Pup."

Kumiko tiredly waved. "Hello Kuromaru. I'm back..." She stifled a yawn. Kuromaru stood up and shook out his fur, trotting over to the little girl's side. She gently reached out and stroked his fur when he turned towards the older Hatake, inwardly marveling at the softness.

Kakashi gave a small nod to the nin-ken partner of the Inuzuka Alpha. "Kuromaru. As promised, before dark." At that, all three looked up at the sky to find what little light remained from the sunset had all but disappeared, the stars beginning to twinkle brightly.

Kuromaru gave an annoyed growl. "Hmph, borderline late, Kakashi. If you _had_ been late, Tsume was muttering something about how even ANBU would not want to deal with the aftermath of your remains." At that, the wolf-dog grinned in a wolfish-grin, showing all his canines. "Pups need regular schedules - be on time from now, Hatake."

Kakashi couldn't help feel relieved he had made it on time when he saw the Kuromaru's grin. What little pleasure he had felt at the wolf-dog's disgruntlement from before had all but changed to a healthy fear. "...Alright."

Kuromaru shifted behind the yawning girl and gave her a gentle nudge towards the compound. "Pup, it's your bedtime soon. Hana is waiting inside to help you to your room. Now, git."

Kumiko rubbed her eyes, tired from the day's events. "Okay, Kuroma-haa-ru..." Her words became garbled from a bigger yawn.

When Kuromaru nudged her again, she looked up at Kakashi. He crouched down to her level, as she had spent almost all afternoon looking up at him. He hoped she didn't get a sore neck.

Kumiko rubbed at her eyes again, then quietly spoke to her new oji-san. "Mn... Thank you for taking me to dinner, Kakashi-ojisan."

Kuromaru, understanding that his charge was saying goodnight, stepped a short distance away towards the gates to give them a little privacy. Kakashi watched him from the corner of his eyes, mentally reminding himself to thank the wolf-dog for the privacy... and the sharp reprimand from earlier on in the day. "Aa, you're welcome, Kumiko-chan."

Kumiko blinked sleepily at Kakashi, emphasizing their resemblance with her sleepy, half-closed eyes. She asked, "Umm... Kakashi-ojisan... Will I see you tomorrow?"

Kakashi was going to refuse, but he couldn't help changing his mind when Kumiko's sleepy-hopeful face was turned towards him. Her puppy-eyes... It could easily beat Pakkun's level 9 puppy-eyes... not that he was going to tell either Pakkun or Kumiko. "Maa..." Kakashi scratched his head. "I'll come by tomorrow for lunch."

At that, Kumiko gave a bright smile, hesitantly reaching out to pat the jonin's gravity-defying hair. "Mn. See you tomorrow, Kakashi-ojisan." She rubbed her eyes with her other hand. "Good ni-haa-ight."

As soon as she finished yawning, Kuromaru picked her up and placed her on his back, trotting quickly towards the main clan building. Kumiko gave a sleepy giggle as she hugged the black dog tightly, slowly waving at Kakashi as Kuromaru took her deeper into the compound.

Kakashi stood and waved back, murmuring back to the little girl who had changed - will change - his life drastically. "...Goodnight, Kumiko-chan."

{(S)}

As Kakashi wandered back to his own apartment, Kotetsu jumped down from a nearby rooftop to walk alongside him. He greeted the jonin. "Kakashi."

Kakashi glanced at the chunin and acknowledged him. "Kotetsu."

After several moments of walking in companionable silence, Kotetsu handed two books to him. "Here. It was quite... disturbing to watch your attempts of socializing with the kid. A bunch of shinobi with families chipped in and bought you these. They should be better reads _and_ a better help for your situation than your Icha Icha."

Kakashi looked at the covers. 'A Parent's Guide to Childrearing' and 'Communicating Effectively 101'.

When Kakashi shot a dubious look at him, Kotetsu shrugged. "They swore up and down that it was needed for you two, or there might be major problems later..." When the jonin raised an eyebrow at that, the chunin chuckled. "Something about needing at least one of you capable of having a normal, casual conversation consisting of topics unrelated to missions."

Kakashi gave the chunin dismissive wave at that. "We're shinobi. Our casual conversations always involve mission-related topics." But the silver-haired jonin still put the books away into his back pocket.

"True, true." Kotetsu nodded a greeting to a passing shinobi. When Kakashi took out his porn to read, Kotetsu eyed the jonin with a knowing glint in his eyes. He broached the topic in a roundabout manner: "Did you know, Kakashi? Today the betting pool's stakes are the highest I've seen since the one about whether the Hyuuga Heir's confession would get through to your blockhead of a student or not."

"...Hm." Kakashi paid only half his attention to the conversation, focused on his still-damp Icha Icha. He began to separate the pages meticulously, flipping slowly to let the pages dry. Soon, he would not be able to read his favorite book series much longer... That is... he _could_, but for the safety of his collection and his own well being, it was best that he didn't read it in close proximity of his niece...

The spiky-haired chunin continued to observe the jonin, watching carefully for his reaction to the following news."The betting pool... It's about whether the girl's your recently-found daughter, or a relation that you've never mentioned."

Kakashi paused a moment in his careful handling of his book, but continued flipping the pages. "...I see."

The chunin looked up at the stars with his hands gathered behind his head, still watching the jonin from the corner of his eyes. "Some _really _weird theories are cropping up, too... almost as bad as the theories about what's under that mask..."

Kakashi sweat-dropped. "...Aa." He had heard most of them, and 'weird' was severely understating some of the theories that people had come up with...

Kotetsu sighed when Kakashi didn't say anything to confirm or denounce the theories. "So, not going to talk about it, huh."

Kakashi turned to the page he had been reading before and started to mold chakra into his feet to jump across the rooftops. "See you."

Kotetsu whined, "Come on, Kakashi! Not even a tiny hint?"

Kakashi gave a backwards wave, head tucked in between his porn. If he was smirking a little at the Kotetsu's unsubtle fishing, it was hidden behind his mask and book.

{(S)}

_Kumiko: Bedtime, Inuzuka Compound_

Kumiko sat still on her bed, eyes drooping as the elder Inuzuka sibling, Ha-neesan, dried her hair with a towel.

The day had been especially long, starting with the goodbyes with her village, the long travel on Genma-san's back, the medical check up, listening to Pakkun's story about Kakashi-ojisan, finding out that she was related to the said silver-haired man, and eating dinner with her new oji-san.

She yawned again, rubbing at her eyes. One of the Haimaru brothers approached and sat next to her, giving the silver-haired girl a place to lean on. Kumiko buried her face into the gray-haired dog, hugging the soft fur-covered support, waiting for Ha-neesan to finish.

"There! All dry, Kumiko-chan!" The towel was taken away and Kumiko blinked at Ha-neesan. The older woman had her hair down from the ponytail she had it in earlier.

"Mn... thank you, Ha-neesa-haaa-n..." The last word was almost drowned out by Kumiko's large yawn.

Hana chuckled. "You must be really tired. That yawn made _me _want to go to sleep."

"...Mmhmm." Kumiko was barely paying attention now, the warm soft fur that she was hugging pulling her into a drowsy state, the dog-support now acting more as a pillow. There was a small whine from the dog, but Kumiko ignored it in favor of hugging it more tightly.

A whisper brought her almost-closed eyes to open half-way again. "Come on, Ma. She's so cute!" Kumiko drowsily wondered why was Ha-neesan whispering, but didn't get much further in the thinking process as she sunk deeper into sleep.

Kumiko thought she heard an even smaller whisper. "...Fine, fine, point those puppy-eyes somewhere else. You can, but only if you get out of her hold without waking her."

She felt a little shift under her, and snuggled in even closer to the warmth. She thought she felt a small grumble, but before she could hug the pillow tighter, the size of the softness below her changed and became a lot smaller. There was a triumphant growl that brought her closer to wakefulness again, but the following silence let her drift back to sleep, curling into the soft warmth she was hugging.

She thought she heard Ha-neesan complain in a whisper, 'Now, Haimaru, that was not fair at all,' but by the time the answering doggy-laughter came from the triplets, she was too far gone into sleep to hear anything else.

* * *

Footnotes:

Gatsuga: Fang Passing Fang (Inuzuka Ninjutsu Technique)

Okonomiyaki: Japanese savoury pancake containing a variety of ingredients. (Okonomi - what you like; Yaki - grilled, cooked)

Yakisoba: Fried buckwheat (Yaki - grilled, cooked; Soba - noodles made from flour)

Yakitori: Skewered grilled chicken, or all types of skewered grilled meat (Yaki - grilled, cooked; Tori - fowl)

Takoyaki: A ball-shaped Japanese snack cooked from a flour batter filled with minced/diced octopus. (Tako - octopus; Yaki - grilled, cooked)

Other general translations:

*Icha Icha: Acting lovey-dovey (between couples) in public... (a bit of a big deal in Japanese culture)

* * *

**A/N** \- My everlasting respect and love for my Beta, songdreamer2016, who's so busy that she can only take a glance at my story every now and then. Here's a little excerpt of her spirited monologue, for your enjoyment:

"I mean, yeah, you can change [the story] to third person, but even then, there's this thing called _character POVs_. You started with Kakashi and his POV, then you went and... What... NO, you CAN'T _DO_ THAT!"

...Much cyber-love to Viewers and Reviewers! Your input makes me recheck my work to make it better!

Happy Thanksgiving week! (Almost 7,500+ views this month alone! Thanks so much guys!)


	8. Meeting the Denizens of Konoha

**Previously:**

_She felt a little shift under her, and snuggled in even closer to the warmth. She thought she felt a small grumble, but before she could hug the pillow tighter, the size of the softness below her changed and became a lot smaller. There was a triumphant growl that brought her closer to wakefulness again, but the following silence let her drift back to sleep, curling into the soft warmth she was hugging._

_She thought she heard Ha-neesan complain in a whisper, 'Now, Haimaru, that was not fair at all,' but by the time the answering doggy-laughter came from the triplets, she was too far gone into sleep to hear anything else._

* * *

**Chapter 8: Meeting the Denizens of Konoha**

(Posted 2014-12-30, Updated 2015-01-02)

{(S)}

_Kumiko: Several Hours Before Dawn, Inuzuka Compound_

(000)

_"Come here Asher!"_

_"Woof, woof!"_

_She threw the ball, and the dog caught it in the air, causing the girl to squeal with glee as the dog quickly brought it back..._

_"You wanna play with the ball? You wanna play with the ball?"_

_Asher barked back, following her hand as it moved the ball back and forth, teasing him._

_"Okay, I'm gonna throw it really hard this time!"_

_As if understanding what she said, Asher ran away barking. She threw the ball as far as she could.__"Hyaa!"_

_He chased after the ball, barking all the while. As soon as he caught it in his mouth, he came running back to the girl._

_He jumped on her, __excitedly __l__eaning up for her to take his ball to throw again. The girl fell over from his weight, as she had not expected it._

_The girl squealed as he started to lick all over her face. She giggled and laughed, trying to get the dog off of her. "__Kyahaha_ –_Get_ – _haha_ – _off, Asher!"_

_He got off and started running around in circles, pouncing around in a playful manner, gazing up at the girl with a huge doggy-grin as she got up and brushed the grass off her shirt._

_She crouched down and ruffled his head and brushed his soft coat with a wide smile. She looked around and saw that the sun was beginning to set. "Huh, it's almost time to go back home..." She looked down at herself and the dog. "Hmm... I think you need a bath before I let you on my bed."_

_At the word bath, the dog started whining. "Come on Asher, it's not that bad... I have to take a bath too."_

_She hugged the dog tightly, then stood up.__"Let's go. We'll come back next week."_

_The two slowly walked out of the park._

(000)

Kumiko drifted close to wakefulness, subconsciously hugging the warm fur closer to her chest. The soft bundle rustled, then snuggled in deeper into her arms.

She mumbled a soft, "...Asher..." falling back deeper into sleep.

{(S)}

_Kakashi: Before Daybreak, Hatake Clan Compound_

Kakashi stared blankly at the empty fenced-up plot of land in front of him.

He hadn't been back since the Pein invasion a few years back, and even back then it had been a short stay of retrieving valuables.

The Pein invasion...

Admittedly, it was the scariest and most grief-filled battle he had ever been in... except the battle with the Juubi and the one with Kaguya, which didn't count. Those battles were almost like fighting nature itself... though, because it was a crazed woman who wanted to coddle future generations instead of letting them grow stronger, it was... easier... than what it sounded like.

...Obito _had_ given him the fully mature Sharingan temporarily, and it was very useful in avoiding hits and generally not getting injured.

Unlike the last bit of fighting in the Fourth War, fighting Pein... Pein spoke no monologues, only simple sentences that stated his intentions as if they were fact embedded in stone – Kakashi had remained focused on the battle, outwardly calm...but inside he had been agitated like a rookie.

His chakra levels had dropped to an all-time low, the enemy had no weaknesses except one – and that 'weakness' was close to impossible to take advantage of. And worst of all...

He had felt his comrades die, one by one.

His chakra sensing ability was not the best Konoha had to offer, but when working in tandem to his sense of smell, it was nothing to sniff at.

While facing off with Pein, most of his attention had been on the fight, but a small portion had been allotted to keeping track of his comrades. And his peers' chakra were blinking out of his sensing range at a tremendous rate.

He remembered how for a brief moment, he had entertained the thought that the battle was a nightmare or some messed-up genjutsu – though he immediately gave himself a shake to wake himself up from his foolish fancy and had gone back to analyzing Pein's fighting style.

Yes, the battle with Pein was one of the best and worst memories of his life.

It was the battle when Naruto, the son of his sensei, had finally gotten the recognition he yearned for all his life...

It was the battle when dead comrades were returned to the world of the living miraculously...

...But it was also the battle when he had died.

(000)

_'Dammit. No chakra left.'_

_'If I use_ Kamui _one more time... that'll be the very last dregs of my stamina and chakra that maintains my vitals...'_

_'...Damn. Dying of chakra exhaustion... what a pathetic way to go...'_

_'But right now, this is the best I can do to save Konoha.'_

_He summoned up the last of his chakra._ '_...Won't be much use alive if there is no Konoha anyway.'_

_As his eye followed the missile headed for Chouji, he felt his heart beat in staccato, leaving him breathless – he almost lost hold of his chakra._

_He willed his body to hold it a little longer, forcing iron-control on his chakra to maintain the technique, keeping his fading eyesight steady on the target as the technique took hold of his chakra... and warped the missile into another dimension._

_A breath out._

_He was tired..._

_His heart gave one last sluggish pump... then stopped._

_'...Damn...'__Kakashi resigned himself to his fate. '__...It looks like... this is it for me...'_

_His regrets of his life came in waves, drowning what coherent thought he had._

_'Obito...'_

[I'll become your eye... and see the future with you. Take care of Rin...]

_'...Looks like this is the furthest you'll see with me. I'm sorry I couldn't keep your promise...'_

_He finally let go of his control over his body. He had been running on fumes in the last few seconds of controlling the_ Kamui_. He saw a muddle of faces, faces he knew that had left him behind._

_Vaguely feeling his head slump down, he drifted into darkness._

'..._Wait for me. I'll be there soon.'_

(0)

_"That you, Kakashi?"_

_Kakashi opened his eyes at the familiar voice, seeing nothing but darkness around him – and the fire a short distance away._

_He saw a familiar figure sitting next to the fire.__"...I didn't expect to see you this quickly."_

_The man with silver hair gave the approaching jonin a small smile. "Mmn. Will you tell me about yourself?"_

_Kakashi sat down next to the man. "Sure... Tou-san."_

(0)

_When he had fallen silent after recounting the major events of his life, his father had smiled a bittersweet smile. "I see... You've had your share of triumphs and troubles, too..."_

_"Aa."_

_"But... I never thought we'd both die so young. Though... not as young as your mother."_

_The White Fang of Konoha looked lost in thought, and the two Hatakes sat in silence for a moment._

_When the silence became oppressive, both shinobi remembering death, Kakashi broke it. "...Regardless of what happened before, you did the best you could. I understand now... You broke the rules for all of our sakes. I'm sorry I was such an idiot – I'm proud of you now."_

_Sakumo had looked surprised at the outburst, but by the time Kakashi had finished, he had a joyful smile on his face. "Thank you, Kakashi."_

_Kakashi started to smile back in response when suddenly, a beam of light came from above and hit him on the chest. Before, Kakashi hadn't felt anything in the darkness, but with the beam of light came pain, exhaustion and phantom aches. Shocked, he turned to his father. "What...?"_

_His father's grin had morphed into a__smaller smile, albeit a proud one, his eyes crinkling into curved lines that looked almost exactly like Kakashi's. "Looks like it's not your time yet, son. You still have things to do."_

_"Tou-san..."__Kakashi felt a phantom hand ruffling his hair._

_"I was glad I was able to speak with you. Thank you for forgiving me... Now I can move on."_

_Kakashi's limited view started to fade, the darkness melting away into light – his father's face was melting away with the shadows. He reached for his father, as he hadn't had a chance to touch him, to hold him tight, to cling to him as he had in his childhood, to say_ I'msorrysorrysorryIloveyou_, but before he had a chance to do any of these, his father's soft voice stopped him in his tracks. "I can finally see your mother again... I'll tell her what an amazing son you are..."_

_Then he had opened his eyes to find himself among comrades he had thought dead, with exclamations of shock and joy all around as he sat up._

_If Kakashi had felt his eyes burn a little with unshed tears, (from the light, of course) no one noticed, as they were all rejoicing at the resurrection of their previously dead comrades._

(000)

A small tug at his pants brought Kakashi out of his reverie.

He found himself in front of the Hatake compound once again, holding the deed to the plot of land. Pakkun was standing by him, tugging at the silver-haired man.

It was an empty lot now, flattened during the Pain invasion.

...Well, mostly empty.

Once the battle was over, he had come by briefly to salvage what items he could, trying not to look too close at the sentimental items like the scrolls with the family tree and history of the Hatake clan, miscellaneous broken weapons or... the near-intact photo album of his childhood.

In his haste to go back to the village and not go down memory lane, he had tripped over a wooden board that had made up the floor. The overturned board unearthed a hidden trapdoor that led to a trove of technique scrolls and valuable weaponry, guarded by jonin-level traps. The Hatake clan's secret storage, of a sort.

As he had been short on time, he had decided to explore the place later, and placed what items that could be salvaged from the compound ruins inside. He added some chakra seals and more traps at the entrance and a doton jutsu to cover up the trapdoor under a layer of earth, then headed back to the construction site.

With the near-constant battles from that point on, he hadn't had a chance to come back... until now.

Kakashi looked back down at the deed of the Hatake compound that he still had in his hand. Out of all his nin-ken, only Pakkun knew about this place. The other nin-ken had become part of the pack over the years when he had lived with Minato-sensei.

It would be suitable for himself, his dog summons when they decided to come train, and his niece; it was large enough for visitors but small enough to maintain easily. The Hatake compound would be rebuilt for the next generation, even if he found the place full of painful memories.

Now... He only needed to build a house on top of the underground cellar – and he knew just the right person to ask to build an inexpensive and durable house.

After all, he was acquainted with a certain cat-masked kouhai who was able to build an entire house in a few seconds.

{(S)}

Across the village, a blank-faced man got the strangest feeling that he would be giving away another reluctantly-free favor to his silver-haired and silver-tongued sempai of his.

{(S)}

_Kakashi: Late Morning, Inuzuka Compound Gates_

"Ohayo, Kumiko-chan."

"Ohayo, Kakashi-ojisan," Kumiko said with a smile at her uncle. "You're early!"

"Mmhmm." Kakashi hmmed in response, glancing at Tsume who had escorted Kumiko to the gates. "Did you do anything last evening?"

"No, Ha-neesan helped me wash and I went to bed right away. I woke up really early in the morning because of a puppy, though. It was a small, dark brown one, and for waking me up, he had to play with me for the rest of the morning."

"Sounds nice."

"It was. We played 'fetch'."

Kakashi made a sound of acknowledgment as he turned towards the Inuzuka Alpha. "Ohayo, Tsume."

Tsume simply gave the silver-haired man a suspicious look.

Kakashi sighed. It wasn't as if he was always late to everything. He was on time for matters of great importance...

"It looks like a nice day today, hmm?" He said, discretely giving her a Konoha standard security sign.

At the correct security pass code the clan head moved her hand away from the kunai pouch at her thigh, but still carefully observed the man, wary of the sudden change.

"Where are you going to take her today?" She asked, her eyes flicking up and down as if to find an inconsistency that would explain the elder Hatake's earliness.

"Aa, Tsunade-sama wanted me to come with Kumiko-chan to her office before going anywhere."

Understanding lit in Tsume's eyes. Her voice lost most of its hidden barb as she murmured in response. "I see..."

Kumiko's smile noticeably grew smaller. "We need to see Hokage-sama before we go to eat?"

Kakashi wondered why his niece looked less happy. "Aa." He raised an eyebrow at her when her face morphed into a small frown.

Kumiko muttered under her breath. "...She's a little scary."

Kakashi gave a tiny huff of amusement. "Maa, she's actually really nice, Kumiko-chan, but her job needs her to act scary towards some misbehaving people."

"...Really?"

"Mmhmm." Kakashi turned back to Tsume just in time to see her hand cover up a smirk. He raised an eyebrow at her, but decided to ignore the clan head's actions, for now.

"Anyway, we should have been there a while ago. We could walk, but if you don't mind, I was planning on using the Shinshun jutsu to get there quickly... I'll - I'll have to carry you."

Kumiko seemed to consider it, but whatever qualms she had was banished with the curiosity for the new ninja-skill. "Okay."

Kakashi crouched, carefully taking her into his arms. Kumiko wordlessly clung onto her uncle's neck, unknowingly providing Tsume prime view of an image, if caught on camera, that may have made it into a father-and-daughter-themed calendar.

Tsume covered another smirk with her hand. It was lucky that she _had been_ able to actually catch the moment on the camera. It was going to be prime blackmail material later on.

She turned her attention back to the pair when Kakashi began molding his chakra. "Make sure she's back before dinner, Kakashi."

Kakashi silently nodded, a little occupied with settling Kumiko comfortably in his arms.

Tsume huffed at his silence, but waved to Kumiko. "Have fun with your oji-san."

Kumiko nodded, waving back. Kakashi then made the seals for the shunshin and left, leaving behind several leaves drifting down where the Inuzuka Alpha was standing.

{(S)}

_Tsunade: Noon-ish Late Morning, Hokage Office_

Tsunade felt Kakashi and his niece's chakra signature behind the office door as she was going through her quota of paperwork for the day.

When Kakashi knocked, she yelled out, "Enter!", but did not bother to look up if they did.

She began signing the stupid messages she had to send to the Kages of the Hidden Villages, informing them of the upcoming exams and the different rules they would follow this year. She grumbled to herself about why she couldn't make a stamp with her signature and sign en masse that way.

She heard a throat clear. "Tsunade-sama," _Ah, Kakashi._ "You wanted to see me?"

"Oh yes, Kakashi. You're late," Tsunade automatically said as she glanced up at him. She glanced at the clock to note how long he took. "You're almost late by –" She realized that the soon-to-be Hokage wasn't late by several hours, but only by ten minutes.

She looked back at Kakashi, eyebrows raised, discretely signaling her surprise that _Never though the day would come when you are almost on time for an appointment during my time in office._

For the benefit of the girl, she commented, "Huh, never mind. For once, you are only ten minutes late." She had a soft smile on her face, but Tsunade furiously signaled that if he dared to pull an 'Obito' again if he could be this 'un-late', every time he was late for more than an hour starting today was going to end with a lot of pain for the jonin.

Kakashi sweat-dropped. "A-Aa, is that so?

"Mmn." Tsunade turned to the girl beside the jonin. "Ohayo, Kumiko."

"Ohayo, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade rolled open the next scroll that needed her signature with a flourish, signaling to Kakashi again as she distracted the girl. "So, Kumiko-chan, how was your stay at the Inuzuka?" _Girl cleared of all security measures. Yamanaka checked yesterday, nothing amiss. ... Free to 'adopt' her anytime._

Kumiko bashfully twisted the hem of her shirt. "...I liked it a lot. I really like puppies and dogs, so it was really fun."

"Good, good. I see you've met Kakashi. He explained to you how you two were related?"

Kakashi slowly nodded, then paused in horror as Kumiko answered the Hokage straightforwardly. "Well, Pakkun told me Kakashi-ojisan's tou-san, Hatake Sakumo is my jii-san because he is also the tou-san of my kaa-san. He also said Sakumo-Jiisan and Kakashi-ojisan didn't know about me and my parents."

Tsunade was impressed with how she summarized the entire situation simply, then pointed a sharp look at Kakashi that promised of a long _talk_ later for sending a summon to explain. She continued conversing with the silver-haired girl, still giving a sharp look to the jonin in front of her. "...Yes, at least that's what we think happened because, unfortunately, we can't ask Sakumo himself."

She turned back to the girl. "Anyway, looking beyond that, Kakashi and Kumiko, I wanted to talk to you about what you want to say to the village about your relationship."

Kakashi stood to attention, and Kumiko similarly stood up even straighter than she had been. Tsunade mentally smirked at the similarity in their behavior, but kept her impassive mask on as she continued. "Most of the village seems to have noticed your outing yesterday... Rumors are already rampant on how you came to sire a daughter, Kakashi. I wouldn't be surprised if a hermit on the mountains on Kumo hadn't heard some of them, they're so outrageous."

Kakashi sweat-dropped, unsure of how to take the fact that Tsunade, the woman who didn't even blink at the outlandish behind-the-mask theories, was using the word 'outrageous' for _these _theories.

"I'm sure that you were thinking of keeping your familial relationship quiet, but Kakashi, I highly recommend being honest with everyone... Unless you want to be known as a closet casanova with women lining up to bring your illegitimate children over to Konoha."

"..."

"...That was a toned-down version of the theory, Kakashi. Again, I highly recommend you to come clean."

For the longest of moments, Kakashi stood still, wondering why people came up with the outlandish theories. Didn't they have better things to do?

In the silence while Kakashi thought things over, Kumiko tugged his sleeve, whispering loudly, "What's a casanova?"

{(S)}

_Kakashi: Late Morning, Hokage Tower_

The silver-haired uncle and niece pair were making their way down the steps of the Hokage Tower when someone greeted them. "Ohayo."

The two silver-haired people turned to find Genma strolling towards the Tower next to a man with brown hair and a scar across the right side of his face. Kumiko recognized Genma and gave a responding greeting with a smile. "Oh, Ohayo, Genma-san."

Kakashi raised one hand in greeting, the other held captive in Kumiko's hold. "Yo, Genma, Raido."

The scarred man nodded to the silver-haired jonin, glancing at the girl that held the jonin's hand. "Ohayo Kakashi. So, this is the kid I've been hearing so much about? Who is she, Kakashi?"

Kakashi gestured to Kumiko, waving her towards the tokubetsu jonin. She started with a hesitant reply, shy about talking about her new familial relationship. "Hajimemashite, I'm Tanaka Kumiko..." She glanced at Kakashi to make sure, and at her uncle's nod of reassurance, she continued and dropped the figurative bomb. "...and I'm Kakashi-ojisan's niece."

There was a silence, both Genma and Raido blinking owlishly at Kakashi to make sure they heard correctly.

Raido broke the silence when he saw that the little girl was waiting expectantly, waiting for him to introduce himself. "A-Aa... Hajimemashite, Kumiko-chan. I'm Namiashi Raido. If you're calling Genma by his name, you can call me by my name too."

"Mn, okay, Raido-san."

Off to the side, Genma raised a brow at the soon-to-be Hokage. "I would have expected you to keep it quiet a while before letting the cat out of the bag... Is it okay for her to be declaring her relationship to you so openly?"

Kakashi kept an ear on his niece's explanation about being related through Sakumo-jiisan as he answered Genma's query. "Maa, it seems that yesterday's outing had gained a bit more attention than I expected. Well... I highly doubt if anyone had _not_ heard about the theory of her being my daughter, and she isn't, so..."

"...So you're clearing up the misunderstanding."

"Mmhmm."

"...Well, we would stay and chat, but we actually have to go report to Tsunade-sama. I'll see you around, Kakashi. Bye, Kumiko-chan. Come on Raido!"

"Aa, right. See you, Kumiko-chan, Kakashi."

Kumiko gave them a small wave in response, surprised at their sudden departure. "Bye..." They waved back as they stepped into the Tower.

After a moment gazing at the entrance to where the two ninja had disappeared to, Kakashi looked down at his niece and gave her a smile. "So, Kumiko-chan. Have you ever had ramen before?"

{(S)}

This time, Kakashi decided they walk to the ramen stand, intending to indirectly spread the news. He knew how nosy shinobi were, and believed once he introduced Kumiko as his niece once on the streets, the word would spread themselves.

His father's image as the White Fang, a great shinobi of Konoha would be tarnished, but Kakashi knew his father wouldn't mind. His father had never valued his moniker in the first place. Actually, for not telling him about his unknown elder sister and Kumiko, his father would be probably be appropriately chagrined and say something about how he forgot.

He was interrupted in his musings when he noticed Tenzo's chakra signature stop on a nearby rooftop. He glanced up to acknowledge him, and a few seconds later, he jumped down in front of them. Kakashi felt Kumiko stiffen, but immediately relax when she saw that he was not surprised by the sudden appearance of the man.

"Konnichiwa, Kakashi-sempai. Going to lunch?"

"Ah, Tenzo. Yep, we're headed for lunch. Would you like to join us?"

"Sure, sempai." Tenzo glanced down at the little girl. "That is, if she doesn't mind."

"Mn. Kumiko-chan, meet Tenzo, my kouhai. Tenzo, meet Kumiko-chan, my niece."

"Hajimemashite, Tenzo-san."

Tenzo stared a bit then turned and questioned Kakashi, a slight incredulous look on his face. "Your niece? I thought..."

Kakashi waved his kouhai's doubts away dismissively. "Maa, I had an elder sister I didn't know about."

"...I see."

"Anyway, lunch? I'll be paying, for once."

"Really? Of course!"

They slowly made their way to the famed ramen stand, Tenzo asking Kumiko about where she'd been to in Konoha and making recommendations on where to visit next. Kakashi remained silent, only making the odd comment here and there.

Suddenly, the silver-haired jonin sensed a fast approaching chakra signature and inwardly sighed, groaning softly when he noticed another familiar chakra signature next to the approaching signature, remaining quiet when Tenzo smirked and Kumiko gave him a puzzled look.

When he noticed that the approaching signature was preparing for a kick, Kakashi quickly grabbed his niece and dodged the green blur that shouted, "DYNAMIC ENTRY!"

As soon as he made sure that Kumiko wasn't too shocked, Kakashi deadpanned to his long-time 'rival', settling Kumiko better in his arms. "Gai, Kumiko is a civilian. She couldn't have dodged that kick just now."

Gai gave his signature smile, flicking his thumbs up as he smiled brightly. "My Eternal Rival! I am very Sorry! I will go around the village a _hundred_ times to make up for my mistake!"

Gai's protégé spoke up, wiping away tears from his eyes. "Ah! Gai-sensei! Your enthusiasm for training is truly admirable! Yosh! I will join you on your laps around the village!"

"Lee! Your enthusiasm is very Youthful! I am very proud of you!"

Kakashi inwardly rolled his eyes at the spandex-duo's dramatics, preparing for what was coming.

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

Kakashi turned his niece's face away into his neck after she got a very, very small taste (so she would make sure to ignore it next time of her own volition) of the horrifying genjutsu of the sunset and waves appearing behind the two men in spandex.

Kumiko whispered into her uncle's ear, clinging desperately onto Kakashi's neck. "...What was that?"

He answered, "It's Gai. And Lee." _If only someone changed their names into 'nightmare' and 'terror'..._

While he was answering Kumiko, he missed whatever Gai said to him. "Hm? What was that?"

"Ah, so Hip and Cool! As expected of my Eternal Rival!"

Kakashi sweat-dropped. He gently let his niece back down, directly after which Kumiko grabbed his hand. He was embarrassed by the show of affection, but let her be, as he supposed she was very overwhelmed from what she had just witnessed. He motioned to Gai with his other hand, introducing him to his niece. "Gai, meet Kumiko-chan, my niece. Kumiko-chan, Maito Gai."

"Ah! Kumiko-chan, Delicate Blossom of Namura! We meet again!"

"...Konnichiwa, Maito-san."

"OH! As the niece of my Eternal Rival, you should call me Gai!"

"...Okay." When Gai became silent, waiting for something with a smile, Kumiko sighed and obliged. "...Gai-san."

Gai beamed even wider, his shining teeth blindingly white. He then turned to Kakashi and shouted a challenge. "Kakashi! You have been too busy, and we have not been able to have a Youthful Competition! Currently I am in the lead, 290 to your 289! It is time for another Youthful Match!"

Kakashi resigned himself, carefully letting go of his niece's hand. "Sorry Kumiko-chan, this will take but a moment," He then turned to Gai. "Ready."

"Yosh! No Sharingan allowed!"

"Aa."

"Lee!"

"Ready, Gai-sensei!"

The two nin stepped back into their ready positions.

Kakashi felt positively embarrassed to do the little jiggle that came along with the Rock Paper Scissors game in front of so many spectators, but decided it was a good chance to get his niece used to Gai's highly eccentric and life-disrupting ways.

"Ready, set! Rock, Paper, Scissors!"

Two 'rock'. Dust started rising from the ground from the shuffling of feet.

"Rock, Paper, Scissors!"

Two 'scissors'. More dust rose up in a cloud, hiding the two jonin as they went for another round.

"Rock, Paper, Scissors!"

There was a silence, and during the silence the dust began to settle again to reveal Gai's hand forming 'paper' and...

Kakashi's two fingers forming 'scissors'.

Lee looked ready to cry. "...Kakashi-sensei is... the winner!"

Gai comically fell over, then quickly jumped up, declaring in a loud voice, "Yosh! As punishment for my mistake to Kumiko-chan and for losing this match, I will go around _two_ hundred times around the village _on my hands_!"

"Yosh! How Youthful!" Lee yelled in answer. "I will join you in your Youthful training, Gai-sensei!"

Then they were gone, leaving behind a cloud of dust.

Kakashi nonchalantly stepped back next to Kumiko, silently laughing at her gaping face. He took up her hand again, then started walking, pulling her gently on. "So, let's hurry to the ramen stand. I'm hungry."

{(S)}

The three of them, Kakashi, Kumiko and Tenzo had just settled in their seats when three men came into the stand, one loudly chanting a mantra of 'ramenramenramen'.

Kakashi sighed. He had thought that Gai would be the last person (with a colorful personality) that Kumiko was introduced to for the day, but for his students to come home today of all days... And of course Naruto would want to eat ramen before going to give the mission report to the Hokage. He hoped his niece wasn't too wary about meeting new people.

"Teuchi-san! We're back!" Naruto yelled, punching the air. "A miso ramen with a looot of extra pork, please!"

Teuchi waved a ladle to Naruto in greeting. "Oi, Naruto! You're back! How's my number one customer?"

"I missed your ramen so much! No one makes ramen like you do. It's great to be home again!" Naruto finally noticed the men sitting on the stools in the stand. "Oh hey! Kakashi-sensei! Yamato-taichou!"

Tenzo simply nodded to Naruto and his two companions who had entered the stand, turning back to his meal. He took a reluctant bite of ramen, looking disgruntled that the one meal Kakashi was finally paying for was this oily dish.

Kakashi raised a hand with a slight wave. "Yo, Naruto, Sasuke, Sai. You're back early."

Naruto smiled widely and began rambling about how great they were as a team and how took down the enemy, though the mission rank was probably raised up one again.

However, Sasuke and Sai paused at the sight of the silver-haired jonin sitting with a small girl with the exact same hair color.

Sasuke answered Kakashi's greeting with a simple 'Kakashi'. His eyes visibly flicked between his jonin-sensei and the silver-haired girl, noting the similarities. His eyebrows raised in a silent question when he came to the conclusion that the two were related.

Sai, on the other hand went for a simple benign smile, suspecting that the truth would come out if he waited long enough. (After a particularly long talk with Sakura, his crude comments had been toned down to the point where he thought it but didn't share it with the rest of the world, unless among close friends.)

Naruto didn't notice Sasuke's silent questioning look aimed at Kakashi, chattering as he sat next to jonin-sensei while waiting for his ramen. "– and we couldn't just stand by and watch it happen so I got Sai to get his ink bird to fly the man out of the –" He stopped, finally noticing Kumiko, who was peering up at him and listening to him speak while carefully using her chopsticks to transport the ramen noodles into her spoon. "Who's this?"

"Aa, I thought you'd never notice, Naruto." Kakashi deadpanned. "Team 7, meet my niece, Kumiko-chan."

"Ehh?!" Kakashi and Kumiko winced, as Naruto's yell was deafening to their sensitive ears.

Unlike Naruto's very loud declaration of surprise, Sasuke only raised an eyebrow before turning to Teuchi to order a tonkatsu ramen. Sai similarly only smiled his benign smile again and ordered a miso.

Kakashi would have been slightly disappointed by these reactions if he hadn't noticed their barely-there reactions. But he _was_ practically the next Hokage in line who had taught and worked with the two teens, so noticed Sasuke's frequent covert glances at Kumiko and Sai writing a memo to search up 'relatives' and 'a guide on what topics to talk to children about' later. From the corner of his eye he noticed that his kouhai had caught the quirks as well and shared an amused look with him.

Naruto's loud yell brought his attention back to his densest student. "But– but–! Kakashi-sensei, I thought you said you didn't have any family!"

"I didn't."

"Ehh?! Wait, what does that mean, dattebayo?!"

Kakashi sighed. Sometimes he wondered how his student was such a successful ninja if he didn't understand what things meant even after all the details had been given to him.

Thankfully, Kakashi didn't need to comment on Naruto's denseness, as Sasuke did it for him with a flat voice. "...Baka."

"What? Who're you calling a baka, teme!"

Sai nodded in agreement. Naruto looked triumphant for all of three seconds until Sai said, "Emo is right. You really are a baka."

"Not you too, Sai!"

A feminine voice cut in, breaking off the impromptu argument. "Hey, how come I didn't get an invitation to this little reunion?"

They all turned as one to see a pink-haired woman enter the stand. "Or were you boys thinking to have a bit of fun without the only female member of Team 7?" Sakura smiled pleasantly, but all the shinobi at the stand sweat-dropped at the Killing Intent flowing from her.

Sakura noted the little girl sitting between Kakashi and Tenzo, looking small and startled as if a deer in headlights and quickly broke off her Killer Intent. "Ah, Kumiko-chan! How are you?"

Kumiko greeted her cautiously. "...Konnichiwa, Sakura-sensei. I'm good."

"Glad to hear that, Kumiko-chan. I hope you are well?"

Before Kumiko had a chance to answer, Naruto interrupted, jumping up and pointing at Kakashi and Kumiko, yelling, "Sakura-chan! Kakashi-sensei said this little girl is his niece! Sensei doesn't have family! He told me so, dattebayo!"

Sakura punched the blonde back into his seat before squeezing herself between Tenzo and Kumiko. "Baka. He didn't know about Kumiko-chan until recently! Right, Kumiko-chan?"

Kumiko nodded. She was still wary around the loud man in the stand, but she recognized the nice doctor from the hospital and was thankful that the pink-haired woman sat next to her.

Naruto, who took a long moment of thinking it through, shouted an enlightened "Oh!" slapping a fist into his open hand. He then proceeded to introduce himself.

"Hey Kumiko-chan, niece of Kakashi-sensei! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage! Kakashi-sensei was my jonin sensei." He pointed to Sasuke, who had just received his ramen bowl. "That teme over there with the duck-butt hair is Uchiha Sasuke! He doesn't say much, so don't expect an answer." Sasuke 'hn'ed to show his displeasure, but his input only served to prove Naruto's words right. Naruto continued as if he had not heard either Sasuke's grunt or the snickers of Sakura and Tenzo. "Sai over here is a teammate that came into the team a little later. He's an artist who is way too interested in people's di–"

Sakura intervened with a punch at her teammate. "Naruto!"

Kumiko, who had been listening intently to each person's introduction, blinked in surprise at Sakura's outburst. She looked questioningly at Kakashi, who shrugged. She turned back to find that Naruto and Sakura's conversation had degenerated into a verbal lashing with intermittent 'hn's and 'baka's from Sasuke; observing Kakashi, Tenzo, and Sai's silence, Kumiko decided to take her uncle's lead and quietly watch the drama from afar.

It seemed that Sasuke's comments were causing Naruto to become riled up, heating up the conversation. When it looked like Sasuke and Naruto were about to get into a fist-fight, Kakashi intervened. "So, Kumiko-chan, this was my genin team. Say hello."

At Kakashi's short comment, the bickering men and woman became quiet.

"...Hajimemashite, Team 7."

At the girl's small voice, the original members of Team 7 looked at each other sheepishly. It had been very long since they were in the same room together, and they had gotten carried away enough to forget that they had been in the middle of introducing themselves to their sensei's niece.

As if to break the awkward silence, Sai spoke up with a suggestion. "Since Emo and Di –" He stopped at Sakura's glare. "...Sasuke and Naruto were about to engage in friendly sparring, why don't we have a free-for all spar for all members of Team 7?"

This was immediately met with various degrees of agreement from all members of Team 7.

Naruto was all for the idea, loudly claiming that he was going to wipe them into the floor; Sasuke said something about Uchihas never losing, as they had the Sharingan; Sakura cracked her knuckles and mentioned how she had been waiting for a chance to slam both idiots deep into the ground; Tenzo initially sighed, but had a pleased smile as he agreed to the spar; Sai benignly smiled again, though a little more sincerely – he was clearly happy that his suggestion was positively received.

Kumiko watched all their responses and turned to Kakashi to see what his response was, to find him watching her. She tilted her head in a silent question, to which the last Hatake shook his head with a smile to show that it wasn't important. Kumiko glanced at the team who were discussing a good training ground to use as the battlefield and glanced back up at her uncle. Kakashi took the hint and cleared his throat.

"Well, we'll have the spar, but we should get Tsunade-sama to sign out one of the bigger training grounds... I think the time has long passed when our 'spars' can be contained in the standard-sized fields." Kakashi gave them a smile using his eyes. "Why don't we say tomorrow, right after lunch? I'll send a messenger-bird with the location. I recommend that you don't eat, because I assure you, you'll throw up."

At the last statement, all of Team 7 looked amused. They all remembered (or were told of) the genin team test when Kakashi had tricked them into starving themselves before the fight.

They now knew better, and told Kakashi so.

"Heh! Like that'll trick me now, sensei! I'm a jonin now! I'm not falling for that again!"

"Kakashi-sensei! I still can't believe you tricked us like that back then!"

"Hn. Prepare to lose, Kakashi."

Tenzo and Sai also chipped in their bits:

"...Let's go all out, but first blood is automatically out, and no healing up the cuts to continue."

"I am looking forward to the spar."

When Naruto began chattering something about how he was the strongest, and that he was already the future Hokage since he had the approval of the previous Hokages, the short peaceful moment was broken, devolving into a five-way bickering match. (Tenzo couldn't keep his calm after Sai's thoughtless comment about how without the mokuton he was not that impressive)

Kakashi turned to Kumiko and quietly spoke to her. "Kumiko-chan, would you like to see what a ninja's spar looks like?"

The silver-haired girl hesitantly nodded. "I want to... But I think it might be dangerous. I'm not a ninja, and I saw what some nin-ken can do at the Inuzuka compound..."

Kakashi smiled, reassuring her. "I have a feeling Tsunade-sama would like to watch as well, so I'll ask her to stay with you. Tsunade-sama is a med-nin so she can help you immediately if you do get hurt. How about it?"

Kumiko deliberated a moment longer, then nodded. "Mn. I want to see the spar."

{(S)}

That afternoon, the news of the spar spread like wildfire, spawning many bets on who would be the winner.

Currently the stakes were at a three-way tie with Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke on top, though the others' stakes were very close behind them.

The evening was abuzz with excitement for the next day. It was, after all, a spar between the best six-men(and woman) team that Konoha has seen yet; truly a fight between Titans.

* * *

**=OMAKE=**

**=Inuzuka Clan's Level One "Handicapped" Training=**

**(Or: 'The Hell Training That Would Soon Become Mandatory... Not That They'd Notice')**

"So..." The Inuzuka Alpha Tsume stood tall, hands behind her back, glaring down at the four puppies in front of her. "Pups, what do you have to say for yourselves?"

The puppies were of various colors ranging from the light brown on the left to the coal black on the right, but they looked respectively about the same age, and all equally ashamed of themselves.

She started pacing back and forth in a military-like manner gazing straight ahead. The puppies were all sitting on their haunches, head bowed down in shame. When the Inuzuka Alpha turned and looked coolly down at each one in turn as she paced, one whined in fear – she bared her fangs at the noisy pup, and the pup immediately became silent.

The Alpha began to speak as she continued to pace, staring straight ahead once again. "Your behaviors of playing tug-of-war with the unmarked pillows in the living room may have been pardoned when you were untrained pups,"

Tsume stopped in her pacing and paused for effect. "_However_." She turned her head to glare down at them. "You are already a month into your training as nin-ken, making your actions something _going against the rules_."

All the puppies quivered in their seats. Tsume restarted her pacing, glaring down again at each one as she passed their spot. "Tug-of-war is an acceptable training exercise. It is not banned. But using materials from what belongs in human houses, especially _the main compound_, was explicitly banned."

Her eyes flicked over to where her partner, Kuromaru, was located. "I am quite sure that Kuromaru had already told you this rule, emphasizing that materials from _the main compound living room __were_ especially _off-limits_."

When a few tense seconds of silence passed with the Inuzuka clan head still glaring down at them, the four puppies began to whine, puppy-eyes on full.

The clan head remained unaffected, maintaining her harsh glare. One by one, the puppies lowered their heads once more in shame, the one on the far right going as far as hiding his face between his paws.

Another long stretch of silence followed before the clan head spoke again. "Hmph. Now. Your punishment will be the following." She took out a scroll from her vest, crouching down to unfurl it on the ground. "You will go through your standard training exercise this week, as usual. Extra sessions in tracking, chakra control and stamina."

Without stopping in her explanation, she made a cut on her thumb using her sharp canines, swiping the blood on the opened scroll. "As usual, you will track this week's training scent left behind by Yuuto, the leaf exercise with Hiname, and laps around the compound with Jiro."

She glanced at the mid-right pup, a gray dog with black ears and snout who had a bandage on one of his paws. "Yama, I expect you to be especially observant while going through the trapped obstacle course. Your supervisor won't save you ever single time."

From the corner of her eye, the feral woman watched one of the pups beginning to grin in relief, probably thinking they had gotten out of punishment. "Think you have gotten it easy, Tazuro? The first part of your punishment..."

Tsume injected her chakra into the prepared scroll, unsealing a pile of variously colored scarves. The puppies, as one, cringed from it in disgust. To the bystander, it would have smelled faintly of lemons, or the smell of a generic cleaning chemical. The clan head smirked at their reactions, then took the topmost scarf and waved it into their faces.

"I doubt you like this smell. I dislike it – it is slightly irritating, but bearable. Not quite 'bearable' for you pups, eh? However, you must know that most civilians find this smell quite likable and use it for most of their cleaning products. You will wear this around your necks for a week... Good luck in your tracking lessons." The puppies were visibly dismayed at the news, especially when the positively evil smirk of their Alpha seemed to grow wider as she reached for another pocket.

The woman took out a stack of seals with obscure writing on it. Thankfully, it didn't have any sharp smells, but from their Alpha's expression of glee, the puppies came to the conclusion that the seal was the more evil of the two punishments.

Tsume stuck the seals on the scarves then tied one onto each miscreant, continuing to explain with a wide sadistic smirk on her face. "This is a gravity seal, the second part to your punishment. These will add a weight equivalent to 10 percent of your body mass... A whole week with them will surely make you realize your mistakes."

Tsume brushed her hands off as she slowly stood back up. "_Don't_ try to take off the scarves, as I will know right away. Understood?"

The puppies whined, softly pawing at their new accessories.

"If you think this handicapped training is bad, you don't want to make me put you under level two handicapped training."

The puppies immediately stopped their whining and sat to attention. Tsume stroked her chin with a contemplative look on her face. When she saw that a clan member was waiting impatiently for her to finish, she snapped her fingers and pointed to the training grounds. "Dismissed." The puppies scampered away.

The stocky man, Daisuke, followed their progress until they were out of sight. He then turned back and nodded in greeting to his Alpha. "Tsume. The newest batch seems to be coming along nicely." He chuckled. "...I noticed that you didn't tell them about the regenerating, low-level perception genjutsu on the seals."

"Hmph."

Inuzuka Daisuke, partner to Jiro, the man who oversaw all stamina training of the younger Inuzuka generation, chuckled again. "It's going to be hilarious to watch their training if they never notice that everything is slightly farther than it should be..." He wondered aloud, "I wonder when exactly they will realize that the 'level one' handicapped training will be their normal everyday training about a month from now?"

Tsume scoffed. "Never. If one did, he or she will be smart enough to know it's for their own good."

He made an agreeing hum. A thought came to the stocky Inuzuka, and he voiced his thought to his clan head curiously. "...By the way Tsume, did you ever come up with the 'level two' handicap training that you keep threatening the trainees with?"

Tsume waved him off as she headed for the compound. "Bah! What for? They never dare cross me twice, anyway."

**=OMAKE=**

**=Stalkers Smalkers, Part 1=**

"So, I was trying to distract the guy and hit him with a shuriken hidden in the shadow of the – is that Kakashi with a _kid_?"

Tenzo was walking home when he caught his ANBU sempai's name. He discreetly took a look around to find where the passing shinobi had seen the phenomenon that pushed him to use 'Kakashi' and 'kid' in a sentence together. His sempai barely tolerated kids, and only just got by teaching his genin team.

The girl, a 'Tanaka Kumiko' from the whispered rumors, walked down the street of Konoha hand in hand with Kakashi, spawning much speculation behind them about their relationship. Yamato couldn't help but roll his eyes at some of the more bizarre theories cropping up (something about Konohamaru finally one upping the elite jonin in the place of Naruto, his 'Boss').

He also scoffed at some of the antics of his peers as they attempted to follow the duo discretely. As shinobi, they should make more of an effort to train up their stealth skills before trying to stalk Kakashi, future _Rokudaime_...

Let's ignore the fact that he was also carefully stalking his sempai and the unknown girl for more information.

**=OMAKE=**

**=Stalkers Smalkers, Part 2=**

**(Or: 'When the Stalker-Shinobi Flocked Into and Almost Took Over a Civilian Restaurant')**

The restaurant that Kakashi and Kumiko had gone into, Tekitei, was experiencing a peak in customers never seen before since the beginning of the establishment.

As a mainly civilian-oriented restaurant, the influx of shinobi came as a surprise. All the shinobi in the village seemed to have agreed to converge on this particular establishment for no clear reason, leaving the proprietor unsure of her next course of action.

The waitresses and chefs were particularly frazzled by a intimidating-looking, scarred shinobi who insisted on checking the entire cooking process in case of _poisons_. When the head chef looked at the tall shinobi with disbelief, the scarred man shrugged and explained it with one word, pointing to his hitai-ate – "...Ninja."

Nothing they could respond to _that_ statement. They all lived in a Hidden Village, after all.

Another strange thing was that though most of the shinobi ordered, they insisted on making sure a certain silver-haired pair was served first – and they insisted on not telling the lucky father and daughter duo.

Even stranger, while most tables would have ongoing conversations, the tables taken up by the numerous squadrons of ninjas were almost deathly silent, only occasionally bursting into moments of amusement or tension for no apparent reason – _all at the same time_.

The proprietor of the establishment was bewildered and a bit creeped out by this, but drew it up to the fact that most of the ninjas were jonin. It was an established, well-known fact among the civilians that a 'jonin' status was the equivalent to 'eccentric'... to put it nicely.

...All thanks to the antics of a certain green-spandex-wearing jonin, who had a tendency of burning out the unwary bystander's retinas.

**=OMAKE=**

**=Stalkers Smalkers, Part 3=**

**(Or: "The One Time Kakashi Dodged the Kunoichi's Wrath by the Skin of His Teeth")**

_"Mn... Kakashi-ojisan... What does 'I-cha I-cha Tactics' mean?"_

At that, Sakura couldn't hold back her spit-take of her green tea. She had looked away for three seconds. Three seconds! During that time, her pervert of a sensei had whipped out the stupid porn book in front of the impressionable little girl!

By the time she had stopped coughing and regained her composure, inwardly fuming about her old genin-sensei's stupidity, Kakashi had already put away his precious porn. When her sensei prepared to explain the meaning of 'Icha Icha', Sakura began pulling on her combat gloves.

_"...A-Aa... Icha Icha means... uh..."_

Sakura finished pulling on her gloves and began to crack her knuckles in preparation for the punch, knowing that Kakashi could hear her loud and clear.

_"...It means to act lovingly towards another person."_

Sakura crossed her arms and huffed. The hair wasn't the only thing of her sensei's that was silver. Again, with his gilded tongue, he managed to dodge retribution for his borderline-improper behavior.

Sakura's mused about past occasions when her sensei had managed to elude retribution for some tactless comments, and decided not to let him go the next time it happened, for sure.

Her straying attention was pulled back into the conversation when the little girl spoke again.

_"Can I read it too?"_

Sakura could only open her mouth in disbelief. _Wasn't the cover hint enough – oh._

The cover was just green with a person in a thinking pose, nothing to point at the fact that it was actually a porn book. She aimed a glare at her sensei, knowing that he would already be careful with what he said but still paying close attention just in case he _did_ something foolish. Like give the little girl _permission_ to read porn.

_"...Why do you want to read it?"_

Sakura glanced around the room to check that most of the kunoichi in attendance was closely watching her sensei's every move. _Good. He won't be able to escape so easily this time._

Kumiko fiddled with the pouch hanging from her neck. _"...I want to learn how to act lovingly towards another person."_

Sakura's righteous anger faded into puzzlement. _Why would she want to learn...?_

_"...Aa, well, this book is not really... aimed for children. I'll find you one later, alright?"_

Sakura huffed again, though more in exasperation than anger this time around.

_It seems that sensei_ does _know what is or is not appropriate_. _He hadn't been so sensitive when training Team 7... __Perhaps what they're saying is true – that Kakashi really didn't know how to teach normally, since he'd never had a 'normal' genin experience to base off of..._

_Anyway,_ she thought, _the little girl was in safe hands... at least as long as these shinobi are tagging along, keeping an eye out._

She had no doubt her shishou and Shizune-sempai had an eye on the situation as well.

Well, she had to go back and tell her parents all about the juicy gossip about her sensei... and maybe take up some bets going on at the next table before leaving.

Shishou would definitely approve.

* * *

Footnotes

Taichou - captain

Teme - a rude way to say 'you'

Shishou - master

* * *

**A/N** \- Oh. My. Gosh. This chapter was a monster to write... Final word count was 9,334 words... Well... it's to make up for missing my update date! Thank you guys so much... I can't believe that I started this fic this year and now have passed over 10,000 views (by a lot) since August... I barely expected a 100 _views_, much less _over_ 20K views!

Lots of cyber-loves go to all of you, for _viewing, following, favoriting and reviewing_ Succession! (Especially those who kept up with this fic from the very beginning! You know who you are!)

Have an awesome last several days of 2014!


	9. OMAKEs and an Important Author's Note

*Make sure you have already read _Chapter 8: Meeting the Denizens of Konoha_!

* * *

**Previously:**

_That afternoon, the news of the spar spread like wildfire, spawning many bets on who would be the winner._

_Currently the stakes were at a three-way tie with Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke on top, though the others' stakes were very close behind them._

_The evening was abuzz with excitement for the next day. It was, after all, a spar between the best six-man(and woman) team that Konoha has seen yet; truly a fight between Titans._

* * *

**Chapter 9: OMAKEs and an IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE**

(Posted 2014-12-31, Updated 2015-07-27)

**=OMAKE 1=**

**=The One Time Rock Lee Ran Away From Gai=**

**=(Or: 'When Kumiko Became Drunk')=**

{(S)}

_Several Months After Rokudaime Hokage's Inauguration, Konoha_

Kumiko watched as Rock Lee stumbled into the small field, swaying from side to side and yelling, "Yu –*hic*– Y'uth!"

He found her sorting through the flowers and picking out pretty ones for a bouquet. "Good morning, my 'mazing –*hic*– Sensei'sh Etern'l Rivalsh' Niesh!"

"Hello, Lee-san."

"Ahhh, Ku-mi-ko-chan! Your ad'ra–*hic* ad'r'blenesh has gone up even m're! B'cuz you're so ad'r'ble, I w'll go run 'round the village two –*hic*– two hun'red t'mes o' m' handsh! –*hic*–!"

When Lee swayed dangerously and began to shift himself into a handstand, a concerned Kumiko stopped him. "Ah, Lee-san, wait! Are you okay...? Are you sick?"

"Siiick? Nooooo, I'm not siiick! I just had an 'mazing –*hic*– time with my c'mra –*hic*– c'mr'desh! Here, K'm'ko-chan! Try thish!"

Kumiko sniffed at the bottle. It looked and smelled like the stuff Tsunade-sama had every time she came to visit oji-san at the office.

"Mn... But... oji-san said that drink is for adults..."

"K'miko-channnnn... Your Flamesh of Y'uth 're dw'ndlin' if you–*hic*– don't try shomething newwww every now and then..."

"Mn..."

"C'mon, Ku-mi-ko-chan!"

"...Okay Lee-san... I'll try... only a little bit, okay?"

She took a small sip, making a face as the alcohol burned on the way down. She coughed, then handed the bottle back to the taijutsu master. "Mnnh, Lee-san, I don't like the taste... and it smells funny..."

Lee looked devastated that Kumiko didn't like it, and decided to help her see the awesomeness of the drink he had filched from Gai. "Y'sh! I'll help you find the y'uthfulnesh of the drink! Fin–*hic*–finish the bottle! Your Flamesh of Y'uth canna' be 'llow'd to be 'xtinguish'd!"

{(S)}

A few minutes later, a frantic Gai finally caught up to a tipsy Lee trying to teach Kumiko the Front Lotus, giving her his extra set of bandages.

For a few moments, Gai was relieved that no visible damage was to be seen, when he realized that something was wrong with Kumiko.

From what he could see, Kumiko had finished the sake-bottle Lee had been carrying, which, when he had last seen it, had been more than half-full.

He couldn't help the shivers that traveled up his spine when he found another bottle – when did Lee hide that one? – thrown haphazardly on the ground nearby.

How was he supposed to tell his Eternal Rival and best friend, his _Hokage_, that Kumiko was suspected to have drunk maybe one and a half bottle of sake?

Gai did not often indulge in pessimism, but this situation clearly called for it: his protégé had made the niece of his Eternal Rival drink down at least a half-_empty_ bottle of sake...

(Or... Kami-forbid, _more_.)

{(S)}

When Gai brought Kumiko to the Hokage Tower, Team 7 had been making their monthly visit with their old jonin sensei. They all tensed at Kumiko's stumble towards Kakashi behind the Hokage desk.

But what brief moment of concern over the girl's condition changed to mostly horrified hilarity after they heard what had transpired from Gai (with intermittent drunken shouts of clarification from Lee).

Naruto was laughing at Kakashi's discomfort, secretly taking pictures of Kumiko trying to pull the mask down; Sasuke was silent, looking on with aloofness but with a slight hint of concern at her condition and shooting a 'how dumb could you be' expression at Lee; Sai had a benign but an unsure smile on his face; Sakura looked disapprovingly at Lee, trying to do something about the almost-dangerous levels of alcohol in the girl's system; and Tenzo pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head at Gai for letting his student get close to alcohol.

Kakashi closed his eyes, feeling like slamming his best friend into the ground for being careless and taking his protégé to the bar, when Lee was _not supposed to be drinking_ at all. He could totally picture Lee being curious as to what alcohol tasted like and trying it, not knowing it was the same drink that made him go on a rampage a few years back.

He could see the humor in the situation... if he wasn't worried for his niece.

But even Tsunade, who was called up from the hospital, seemed to be amused at the sight of Kumiko hanging from Kakashi's back by the neck like a burr, her face in a cute pout because Kakashi was not paying attention to her ramblings.

She scanned Kumiko's alcohol levels to check Sakura's work, then tsked, telling Kakashi, "Kakashi, you'd better stay home today and tomorrow. Burning off the alcohol would work, but I don't like the look of her immune system. I'll take the paperwork for you, but you owe me."

Kakashi sighed. "Thank you, Tsunade-sama." He turned to Gai. "Gai, I would love to punch in the face right now, but because I know you're going to punish yourself and Lee anyway, I'm not going to –" He was interrupted by a small voice in his ear.

"Kakashi-ojisan... you aren't listening to what I'm saying..."

"...I'll talk to you later, Gai. I'll leave this to you, Tsunade-sama."

{(S)}

_Later that day, Hatake Compound Livingroom_

"Oji-san, I love you."

Kakashi didn't look up from his book. "Mmmh."

"Oji-san."

"Mmh?"

When Kumiko became silent, he glanced up to find her staring seriously at him. He shifted uncomfortably.

"Oji-san, do you love me?"

Knowing that Kumiko would keep asking stubbornly until he answered, he stutted out an affirmative, wishing he could escape this highly... uncomfortable... situation. "...A-Aa."

"Really?"

"...Yes, Kumiko-chan."

"But you didn't say 'I love you, Kumiko-chan'."

Kakashi looked uncomfortably away, trying to hide his face in the book. "...Uhm."

Kumiko swiped the book away, holding his masked-cheeks in her hands. "Kashi-oji... tell me you love me. Do you love me?"

Kakashi blushed from the embarrassing sappiness of what he had to admit to, but decided the best course of action was to indulge his drunk niece. "...Aa."

His hope that the answer was enough to free himself from his niece's grip was sorely disappointed when she shook his head with her hands. "Tell me."

"..." He remained silent, hoping she would forget and that her attention would flit somewhere else like before–

"Kashi-oji..."

"..."

He glanced at her to find her eyes were like that of a kicked-puppy.

"...You don't love me?"

"..."

He did not _not_ love her, it was just that... Mn. He kept his silence, hoping that she wouldn't start –

Kumiko's eyes looked suspiciously wet, her mouth twisted down in an unhappy expression. "You don't love me..."

– and Kakashi panicked.

"No, no! I... I... uh..."

Kumiko looked up hopefully at her uncle, asking again. "Kashi-oji, d'you love me?"

"I... I l-love... you..."

At his reluctant response, Kumiko began laughing in delight. "Kyaahaha! Again, again! Who do you love, Kashi-oji?"

"..."

Her face immediately returned to the kicked-puppy look. "...Please tell me again...?"

"... I... love... you... Kumiko-chan..."

She giggled, planting a kiss on Kakashi's masked cheek. "Hehehehe~ I love you too! I love you soooooo much Kakashi-ojichan!" She hugged his neck tightly and rubbed her face against his own just as she did to her dog plushie that Genma had given her.

"...A-Aa." Kakashi was sure his face would spontaneously combust from embarrassment and was very glad that the compound had security seals that prevented people from spying into his home.

{(S)}

_Same time, Hokage Office (In front of a Familiar-looking Crystal Ball)_

"Oh Kami! That's so adorable!" Sakura giggled.

Naruto was rolling around on the floor, laughing. "Gyahahahaha, I can't believe it! Kakashi-sensei actually said it!"

"Hn." Unlike his neutral response, Sasuke had a small grin on his own face.

Sai was taking notes, observing carefully. "So that is how you express love for family members..."

Tsunade grinned, waving a photograph. "Who wants the photo?"

Tenzo immediately snatched it from Tsunade. "I'll be taking _that _high-quality blackmail material, thank you very much. Excuse me, Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade smirked. "No worries, Tenzo. I've made more copies already." She sighed in contentment. "I knew that pervert-geezer's crystal ball would be useful someday."

{(S)}

* * *

**=OMAKE 2=**

**=Kumiko's Wisdom=**

_Several Months After the Drinking Incident, Hatake Compound_

"Kakashi-ojichan."

"Hmm?"

"We practiced sewing today and made a doll in class."

"Mmh."

"We were using needles and thread to make it. It was challenging because I had trouble threading the needle through the eyehole."

"Aa."

"Want to see?" Without waiting for an answer, Kumiko took away the book in his hands that he was pretending to read and replaced it with a small cloth doll.

The details in the doll was amazing. The doll was male, with white yarn making up the hair, all tied into the mini hitai-ate on its head. It had the standard black pants and shirt with bandages taping the ends down perfectly into the mini-shinobi sandals, with more bandages on its leg instead of the kunai pouch. The black shirt had a mask attached, and on top of the shirt was a passable likeness of the vest he wore.

But the most surprising aspect of the doll was that it had no eyes. Flicking a finger underneath the doll's mask, Kakashi realized that although the doll had all other details in place, it was a faceless one.

Kakashi smiled at Kumiko, who had been observing him examine the doll. "Well done. It's a very good likeness."

"Aren't you going to ask about the face?"

"Hmm, I would say you were being kind and letting me keep my secret from my team."

Kumiko sighed, shaking her head.

"Silly oji-chan. I still don't understand why you don't want to show your face to your team-family."

She took the doll back, unmasking the doll to show clearly that it _was_ a faceless doll. She absentmindedly patted down the messed up locks, straightening the hitai-ate. "A doll shouldn't have a face, especially if it is taking the likeness of someone,"

She unconsciously took a deep thinking pose, a far look in her eyes. Kakashi couldn't help inwardly wishing that he had a camera at hand.

"Mm-hmm. No one should be forced to smile or frown, faking happiness." She compared the doll with Kakashi's face, tacking on, "Or grumpiness, like Sasuke-niisan."

She nodded to herself, in agreement to her statement. Kumiko began patting down Kakashi's messy hair when she saw that the doll's hair was neater than the real thing. "If a doll is stuck smiling or frowning, that might make the person that the doll looks like to stay in the same expression as the doll."

She put the doll down and climbed into his lap, replacing the book in his hands. "Though I do want oji-chan to smile more because he has a nice smile, I wouldn't want to force to you to smile. That would be sad."

With a small frown, Kumiko patted Kakashi's cheek. "But smile more, oji-chan. I like your smile a lot. No more frowny faces, okay?"

Times like these, Kakashi felt... unsure of his next course of action.

She was a wise one, for her young age. He could recall that he had been considered intelligent at her age as well, but she was not just intelligent, she was wise.

A persistent pat on his cheek reminded him that he hadn't answered her.

With a small smile, he answered, "Okay, Kumiko-chan."

The bright smile on her face sparked a warmth in his heart; he couldn't help but pull her closer and give her a kiss on her forehead.

Kumiko giggled, and snuggled in for a hug.

As he was holding her tightly, Kakashi wondered if this was what being a father was like. (If this was what having family was all about.)

* * *

**A/N** \- Hope you enjoyed these OMAKEs. (The second one is a bit... _meh_, but I really like the first one... teehee.)

I really wanted to write these scenes in, but I before I could, I had to write up Kakashi's inauguration to Hokage, Kumiko going to Academy(or civilian school), _and_ a bit of time for her to get to know Konoha well enough to not get lost before either of the two OMAKEs could be incorporated into the story... and I don't think I can write all that.

Some backstory on **Succession**:

As I briefly mentioned in my very first chapter, **Succession** was designed as a one-shot inspired after reading chapter 3 of Silver Queen's **Reincarnation Roulette**. (Go check it out if you haven't already, Kakashi fans!)

So to those who noted that this story didn't have a plot or thought it was a very slow building story, you are _absolutely_ right!

I went on a Hiatus for this story, because I thought I needed to develop a better plot (with an intro, rising conflict, resolution and all that story stuff). I'll be back though, so don't worry; Kakashi will be forced into another quite awkward situation (awkward for him, hopefully funny for the readers) with his niece.

Then I got pulled into the Big Hero 6 fandom with my Beta songdreamer2016, writing a twin-fic called _Cosmic Intervention_ (mine) and _I'll Try to Picture Me Without You But I Can't_ (songdreamer's)... Haha... It's our first collaboration story _ever_, and we've written up a TON of sibling-feels and angst... *TADASHI IS NOT DEAD. I REFUSE TO BELIEVE IT* (To those who haven't watched the movie yet, it definitely tops Frozen in that category. Highly recommended, even if the storyline was a bit _meh_.)

We're now on the Home stretch (as of July 2015... kinda) for our Twin-fic AU, so **Succession** is going to slowly pick up the pace once again as it takes priority. Updates will still be slow, but _hey_, at least I'm working on it...

But seriously, THANK YOU all so much for your support for **Succession** until now, peoples! I mean...look at the follows, favorites, _and_ reviews! I was totally not expecting more than 20 reviews and a view count in the hundreds, much less any MORE. My cyber-love is really overflowing for you all.

Stay awesome, Naruto Fans! (Or is it Kakashi fans...? XD) Kakashi and Kumiko are going to have a TON of awkward moments in the future. ;)

With tons of cyber-love,

New and Old


	10. Spar of the Dragons (Part 1)

**Previously:**

_That afternoon, the news of the spar spread like wildfire, spawning many bets on who would be the winner._  
_The leading stakes were a three-way tie on Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke, though the other bets were very close behind them._  
_It was, after all, a spar between the best six-man(and woman) team that Konoha has seen yet; a fight between Titans._

* * *

**Chapter 9: Spar of the Dragons (Part 1)**

(Posted 2015-06-25, Updated -)

{(S)}

_Kakashi: Noon, Arena_

Kakashi sighed.

The little 'spar' became somewhat of a huge event, which was just troublesome, especially if he _lost_.  
He would have been late, as usual, but after getting the threat from Tsunade-sama about not being late again _or else_ as she had bets riding on this (and another subtle threat of how his niece was going to be so _disappointed_ in her jii-san), he was cowed into showing up only fifteen minutes late instead of the usual two to three hours.

_Tsunade-sama and her infernal bets..._ He thought, huffing softly into his mask, glancing in the direction of the Hokage booth. The booth had the best seat, with only Tsunade-sama and her ANBU guards, Shizune, and Kumiko with possibly an Inuzuka dog, from the little ball of fur in her arms.

As soon as she heard of the spar, Tsunade-sama had made it a Konoha-wide event, taking place in the newly restored arena where the next Chuunin exams were being held next month.

Temari, who had been acting as the Suna ambassador for the Chuunin exams (yeah right, it had _nothing_ to do with a certain man with pineapple hair), was asked to play proctor, though there were many volunteers - Tsunade-sama had deemed the volunteers to be too partial to at least one of the participants.

The rules were simple: the spar was a free-for-all melee in which whoever recieved a cut (with blood) was immediately out, and if there was a tie, whoever had caused the least collateral damage to the arena would win.

As always, the Intelligence division was in charge of the stakes, knowing exactly who bet what on which participant and oversaw the entire betting pool.

_Don't forget the civilians; of course they had to make this into a festival_, he sighed, exasperated at his village.

And what a festival it was, with street vendors selling Team 7 themed-food, extreme supporters making and selling little badges with each participant's name to show their support, and some that were selling actual photos of them walking down the streets (he shivered when he had found a photo where his mask was down to eat... though his face was still covered by his hand). Not to mention, some _really_ unique shops sprung up overnight with wares that were downright _strange_, if not creepy as heck.

The ninja grapevine had tittered over discovering the said shop; its wares were focused so much on Team 7 that it was amazing how the civilian store owner had gathered that much merchandize to sell in the first place, at such late notice.

There were cheap civilian imitations of Kakashi's mask, Naruto's whisker-tattoos, Sasuke's purple rope, Sakura's yin-seal tattoos, Sai's humongous scroll (blank and low quality) and brush, and Tenzo's happuri with no leaf-symbol. It was almost shut down due to security issues, but at the last minute security team overseeing the flux of Team 7 merchandize decided that it was so obviously fake that no ninja in their right mind would actually try to ...infiltrate with it.

Temari was currently summarizing the rules to them and for the benefit of the crowd, and everyone was cheering for their respective participants. Sweeping his gaze back towards the five shinobi in front of him, Kakashi lazily noted that his former students were all decked out with full gear, seemingly ready to take on anything.

Naruto was bouncing in place, a huge grin stretched across his face. He was listening intently to _all _parts of the instructions (unlike what he did at the infamous Chuunin exam during the war) that Temari was telling all of them.

The resident angst-ridden Uchiha was a short distance to the left of Naruto, standing aloof with a blank impassive look - at least, to civilian eyes. Those who knew Sasuke well enough saw the small tilt on the corner of his mouth and the glint of excitement in his eyes.

To the left of Sasuke, Sakura was in the middle of giving a cursory lookover at everyone, muttering all sorts of what sounded like nonsense but were actually a list of all the bones and blood vessels of the body, how such and such amount of power would burst so and so vessel before bleeding. There was a sadistic smirk on her face as she gleefully muttered that she could _play longer_ if she hit certain places, and honestly, it was quite frightening.

Sai had his default blank look, glancing from time to time around him with a hint of anticipation and amusement for what was to come. He was standing quite still, but to the trained eye, one could see that he was fidgeting a paintbrush, jerking it around with small absent motions that could be him practicing drawing one of his original works.

Yamato was being his normal ANBU self, in the epitome of ninja posture, holding very, very still to listen intently on what Temari was saying while keeping an eye on his opponents.

Himself? Of course, he was ready. He already had started his plans yesterday, after getting permission from Tsunade-sama to use the arena. The proctor hadn't said anything about rigging the stage beforehand, and this was a spar, not an actual official event, no matter how much the civilians made it to be one.

Of course, his cute little gen- no, now jounin students and ANBU comrades would be slightly outraged that he had, but - he _was _the future hokage. He really couldn't risk his image here, being beaten by simple jounin (they were actually getting more famous than the Sannin, but _details_). Oh, and of course, making a point with the ninja maxim of _looking underneath the underneath_ and all that. He did have to one up his students, afterall (that is, while he could).

"...ashi-san? Kakashi-san!"

He came back to attention, pretending as if he had been into his Icha Icha. _Hmm, I do need to get it out of the house quite soon... perhaps hide it in the Hokage office?_

"Hmm? What was that?"

From the distance, he distinctly heard Gai and his protege yelling, 'So Hip and Cool!' and maintained his impassive expression.

He mentally wondered exactly how loud they really were for their voices to echo down from the back of the arena, but his thoughts were again interrupted by Temari.

"Kakashi-san, do you understand the rules and agree to follow them for the spar?"

"Aa, that. Hai, hai." He answers back nonchalantly, closing his book and putting it away in his pouch.

"Take it more seriously, Kakashi-sensei!"

"...Hn."

"Let him be, Naruto. If he loses because he didn't know the rules _like a certain somebody_, we can hold it above his head until the end of time."

"...Sakura-chan, you promised not to talk about that, dattebayo..."

"What are you on about Naruto? I never mentioned anything about an S-rank orange ninja who failed a simple Chuunin exam because of _not listening carefully_."

There was silence in the group, all staring between Sakura and Naruto.

_I never would have thought that Sakura would end up the most sadistic of my students... _Kakashi mused, sweatdropping at Sakura as he nodded to Temari to show that they should probably get started.

"...Let us continue." Temari said, motioning around to remind them that there was an audience waiting.

{(S)}

_Temari: Noon, Arena_

_These Konoha-nin were crazy._

Asking her to play proctor because they might not be impartial enough to rig the betting pool... how _troublesome_, Temari thought, borrowing her boyfriend's catchphrase.

Surprise surprise, unpredictable Naruto began the fight immediately after she dropped a hand, spamming a wide area with clones. She noticed that they were a mixture of kagebunshin and regular bunshin.

_Huh. He must have improved his chakra control somewhat,_ she thought.

Sasuke quickly followed to match his rival (and yes, the term was _rival_, no matter how much the Uchiha disagreed), casting a quick genjutsu that no one got caught in (except some of the clones, but she thought they were mostly pretending).

Sakura was already halfway to Yamato with a fist pulled back, the ANBU finishing up his handseals for his wood element; Sai had already whipped out his scroll, drawing something furiously as he evaded the clones' taijutsu attack.

Temari stepped back to avoid a stray kunai, keeping an eye on some Naruto clones and Kakashi, who were duking it out with kunai, shuriken, and ANBU-issued tanto.

Kakashi jumped back to the wall of the arena during a short lull, going through his own handseals, probably for a raikiri. She kept an eye on him, not willing to get hit by a stray lightning bolt.

But before Kakashi was finished preparing his jutsu, several Naruto clones slammed a Rasengan where the he had previously occupied the wall.

Suddenly, Temari jumped to avoid the earth beginning to split underneath her feet, recognizing one of Sakura's signature moves. The earth splinters disperse most of the clones around the area and reveal a Naruto in the middle of the crater gathering sage chakra - when Naruto yells something about 'monstrous strength' to Sakura, she mentally yelled _'baka'_ as she witnessed Sakura's mental _snap_ and unleashing her killer intent.

_...Troublesome. Konoha-nins are crazy. Or maybe it's just Naruto. Does he _want_ to be killed? ...Then again, the Konoha kunoichi are the strongest I've ever seen. Do they share an inner drive to prove that they are stronger?_

She shook away the thought and brought her attention back to the spar - no, _fight_ -raging around her. The earth shattering chakra display had dispelled most of the clones and freed everyone up to actually fight each other instead of the clones.

On the other side of the arena, Sasuke clashed with the wood user, dodging wood strikes expertly while attempting to approach closer to the cat ANBU, hands flickering through seals in a blur for (probably) a fire jutsu.

Kakashi was defeating ink monsters left and right, leaving puddles of ink everywhere while Sai looked on from above, sending more ink monsters and subtle genjutsu to get some ink snakes to attach unnoticably to one of the participants.

"Sai! Are you an ANBU or not? Stop running away and face me like a man!" The remaining Narutos yelled when his clones kept bursting as they attempted to jump to Sai's perch.

"Like hell, Dickless. I'm a ninja, and ninja don't go around making glaring mistakes like not being subtle. Oh wait, you wouldn't know, because you're still wearing orange."

But while Sai looked down with a slight superior edge on his expressionless face, he hadn't noticed Yamato's wooden structure growing taller and taller as it tried to catch Sasuke. When Sai noticed, Sasuke had already leapt the last few hundred feet and used his sword to extend lightning chakra for the remaining hundred, easily dispersing the ink bird.

Sai and Sasuke fell, the two brunettes clashing swords in midair. They broke apart before they landed, preparing to run towards each other again. Suddenly, Sai broke off his run, leaping away; sharingan twirling lazily, Sasuke immediately turned to his left with an arm out to stop the punch headed his way when his eyes widened and he hastily tried to step back.

However, it was too late, and Sakura's fist slammed into Sasuke's arm with a loud crunch. The Uchiha had a wince on his face (Uchihaese for screaming in pain from thousands of elephants trampling over you, Temari mentally translated), but from what the proctor could see, there was no blood, even though the bone was clearly broken.

The pair separated, the brunette crouching and the pinkette standing with a smirk on her face.

"Oh, I'm sorry Sasuke-_kun_," Sakura said in a deceptively sweet voice. "Were you expecting someone else?"

"...Hn."

A slam of wood separated them, and the pair jumped apart to join the melee going on at the center of the arena.

* * *

(to be continued)

* * *

**A/N -** As you've probably noticed, the spar is not finished, though I roughly know who is going to win and how. (Oh my gosh, _respect_ to those people who are super great at writing fight scenes. It's an impressive feat... I barely managed this short one... :S)

Feel free to speculate on the winner; I may change who it is if you give me a good enough reason. *winks*

Lots of cyber-love to Readers and Reviewers!


	11. Spar of the Dragons (Part 2)

Previously:

_The pair separated, one crouching, cradling his arm and the pinkette standing with a smirk on her face._

_"Oh, I'm sorry Sasuke-_kun_," Sakura said in a deceptively sweet voice. "Were you expecting someone else?"_

_"...Hn."_

_A slam of wood separated them, and the pair jumped apart to join the melee going on at the center of the arena._

* * *

**Chapter 10: Spar of the Dragons (Part 2)**

(Posted 2015-09-20, Updated 2015-09-30)

{(S)}

_: Afternoon, Arena_

The spar continued for the next twenty minutes, no one giving an inch. No one pulled out the big guns just yet, all knowing that doing so would escalate things far too quickly for a satisfying spar.

They all sported some scruffs and bruises, but no one had bled yet, much to the excitement of all the civilians present. (The shinobi were impressed, but it wasn't anything they hadn't seen before.)

Somehow, in the middle of the spar, Sai and Tenzo decided to team up and start picking the others off one by one; they weren't doing a great job, but a lot more effective than had they'd been working on their own. Of course, Naruto was annoyed.

"Oi, teme! We can totally overpower everyone with your Susanoo and my Sage mode! Let's team up!"

"...Tch. As if I need you to win."

"Don't lie, dattebayo! Just give me some time to gather chakra!"

"Hmph. Just this once." he couldn't help but add a 'dobe', which rang with the unspoken and condescending 'since you need it'.

Predictably, Naruto fell for the bait, as he always have and always will until he no longer felt the need to shout, 'Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage, dattebayo!'.

"_Teme!_ You're the only one with broken bones!"

"As if I need to be at a hundred percent to beat you, _dead last_."

"That's it! I take it back — you need another lesson on who can beat who! _Let's see exactly who's the 'dobe' here!_"

The two broke off from their respective sparring partners and started towards each other, punching and blocking furiously, Sasuke pulling out a minor form of the Susanoo while Naruto brought out a little of Kurama's chakra. After the initial clash that separated them, they began running towards each other with a Chidori and Rasengan in their respective hand, all but ignoring the flash of pink headed towards their point of impact (later they insisted that they _had_ seen it but just decided not to act on it).

Their techniques never had a chance to clash, as a canister landed between them and let loose a purple-tinged smoke. Naruto and Sasuke immediately moved away from the probably-gas cloud, quickly pulled into a taijutsu match. Sai and Tenzo took on Naruto and Sakura tentatively allied with Kakashi clashed with Sasuke.

It seemed like the spar would go on for quite a bit longer, when the most promising winner of the match (he beat all his opponents in the war and everyone knew about/was treated to his brand of _therapy-no-jutsu_) made a foolish mistake that even rookies were reluctant to admit to, much less in an arena full of people.

Naruto slipped.

A few seconds into the two two-to-one matches, the entire group had coincidentially (or by design by someone in the group, it was hard to tell) gone near the gigantic crater that Sakura had made near the beginning of the match to reveal Naruto attempting to absorb Sage chakra underground.

By this time, there was a puddle nearby made of a mixture of Sai's ink residue (from all his ink creations exploding into ink all around the arena) and water from a stray water bullet, and the ground around was quite soft from the numerous Hidden Mole jutsus that had coincidently passed through that specific area.

Naruto, in his distraction of trying to get back to fighting Sasuke and 'Make the teme see the truth, dattebayo! Let me at him!', slipped on the puddle, got the same foot tripped up by a stray piece of rock, had a not-intentionally-made-quicksand-trap catch his other foot before he could stop himself from falling, then fell over the edge of the crater.

As he was falling, Tenzo took advantage with a smirk and pushed the blond further down, keeping him there with several well-placed wooden columns, trapping the jinchuuriki on all sides in wooden restraints. Much to Sai's delight, the former Root was the closest to give the blonde the conclusive blow (a quick slash with his tanto across one of Naruto's arms) and the following drop of blood from the scratch caught almost everyone unawares.

"Uzumaki Naruto, disqualified." Temari said in an deadpan voice. (Several chuckles came from shinobi who remembered a very similar scene from a chunin exam during the war where she did the exact same thing to the same ninja)

At the announcement, all scuffles in the arena stopped, and the audience became still as they caught up with what just happened. Most ended up shaking their heads with a sigh, and Kakashi had the gall to murmur a 'most unpredictable ninja, indeed...' during the lull.

"Hn. Just goes to show who's truly superior, dumbass." Sasuke said with a smirk.

"Uchiha Sasuke, disqualified."

Sasuke's face became blank at the unexpected announcement.

"What —"

"Maa, you really should always be paying attention in a fight, Sasuke." Kakashi lightly told him, letting go of the razor-thin wire connected his hand and the ground, the wire just glancing the unarmored area of Sasuke's calves. The silver-haired jounin quickly dropped the wire to jump away from an ink-snake trying to trap his foot and headed off to retaliate to the brace of kunai from Sakura, leaving behind an Uchiha who looked visibly shocked, disbelieving of his situation.

"_What_."

"Ha! Take that, Sasuke! At least I lost against two opponents! You lost against one, no — a _wire!_"

"Shut up, _first disqualified_."

"T-Teme!"

"Both the disqualified participants, please leave the arena for the other contestants. Any collateral injuries will be even more ruinous for your reputation as the two who sealed Kaguya and 'saved the shinobi world'."

{(S)}

_Kumiko: Afternoon, Kage Booth, Arena_

Kumiko yawned. Things were exciting, but all she could see were blurs of colors that were zipping back and forth from one place to another. And, she couldn't really differentiate between Sasuke-san and Tenzo-san, as they had similar, dull and muted colors. On the other hand Sai-san, Naruto-san, Sakura-san, and Kakashi-ojisan were the easiest to keep track of, though they still moved a little too quickly for her to see exactly what they did.

Sai-san was making a lot of black ink wherever he was, so she just had to follow the moving black water back to where it began to find him. His ink bird in the beginning was the coolest technique, because Sai-san could fly. Who else could say 'I can fly' so casually?

The bright orange and yellow hair of Naruto-san was the most eye-catching, but every other minute the color multiplied from the clones. In the end, she didn't know which one to keep an eye on... Kumiko supposed that that was the reason why Naruto-san used them so much.

Sakura-sensei's pretty pink hair was not as fast or as widespread in area when moving, but she moved slowly enough sometimes to show really cool, literally earth-shattering moves, all done with a deceptively soft looking punch (Kumiko kind of wanted to be an amazing woman just like her).

Kakashi-ojisan's silver was the fastest (at least, in her opinion) in the arena, but her oji-san was most noticeable in that he kept separating from the main fighting, until the blurs of color followed him. There were even moments when he was almost just standing around doing nothing (he looked really cool, and she thinks she now knows what Gai-san meant) until he began to move again with quick jumps and dodges of things she couldn't quite see until a moment later (She was now very sure that her oji-san was the coolest of them all, even if he didn't win).

The crowd 'ooh'ed, and Kumiko stifled yet another yawn, petting the fluffy puppy in her arms. Ha-basan had insisted that puppies were irritating to take to the match, but Kumiko was glad that she had insisted on company. Whatever else would she have done, if the puppy wasn't there to distract her from her boredom?

A wet nose buried itself into her arm, and Kumiko looked down at the small pup to see that it was whining softly, pawing to be let down. Without thinking too much about it, she let the gold-furred dog down onto the ground, to watch in surprise as it rushed out of the booth.

Shocked, Kumiko immediately followed it out, unconsciously using her nose to track the puppy down.

Now, normally, the booth would be watched by several ANBU Hokage Guards, who would be watching things in the booth to make sure that the Hokage was fine. Normally, the Hokage was quite aware of her surroundings enough that any people going to and from her presence would be noted quite easily.

Well, the moment the dog was placed down on the floor, Naruto and Sasuke were about to duke it out, ignoring all their surroundings. The moment the puppy ran out, Naruto had been taken by surprise by the 'slippery piece of rock with the abilities of a Hirashin', as he would say later. The resulting WTF moment in the audience affected even the most rigid of the ANBU guards, some who shared a (hidden) face-palm with the rest of the Naruto-supporters in the audience, because by this point, the entire village was in on the betting pool.

The moment Kumiko followed the dog, Sasuke had been taken out by the wire. Which was followed by several 'I told you so's from the anti-Sasuke faction of the Naruto supporters, and the next few seconds where full of disappointment and satisfied glee in the audience (both civilians and ANBU) from the disqualifications of the two most anticipated participants. Tsunade was the most vociferous of them all, swearing up and down at the blond ninja who she was so sure that she could make money off of without negative consequences (for once in her life).

{(S)}

_ANBU: Afternoon, Kage Booth_

"That clumsy _brat!_"

It should be noted that it was around this time that an ANBU had noticed the missing girl and attempted to let the Hokage know.

"Um, Hokage-sama..."

"How dare he! His luck was supposed to cancel out mine! How is this possible? I just lost a million ryo!"

"Hokage-sama —"

"And that Uchiha brat! See if I'll heal that arm! Well, Kakashi's still in the running, aren't you glad brat — where's the brat?"

The ANBU remained hidden in each of their hidey holes, letting the one in the bear mask (the newbie) to take the full blow of Tsunade's glare. Tsunade, after a few seconds of silent glaring, pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. When she looked back up to find all her ANBU out of their hiding places, waiting for her expectantly, she pointed out of the booth, snapping a finger.

"Well? What are you waiting for? A written order? Go look for her, now!"

An ANBU in a tiger mask began to protest. "But Hokage-sama, we're here for your prote —"

"Are you insinuating that I can't protect myself in _my own village_?"

All the ANBU quailed under her harsh gaze, but no one moved until the tiger masked ANBU spoke up again. "Hokage-sama, we aren't taking any chances."

Harrumphing loudly, Tsunade turned back to the spar as she waved them back into their hiding places. "Fine. _Half_ of you go look for her. She can't have gone far."

{(S)}

_Kumiko: Afternoon, Konoha Streets Somewhere_

Kumiko was so lost.

Where did the puppy go?

She had just turned a corner, and the milk-and-kibbles scent of the puppy got really mixed up, seemingly splitting in at least three different directions from the milk cart that passed by.

When she looked around, the streets were mostly empty, with most of the shops closed for business. As Kumiko began to panic, a scary masked person in a long black hooded cloak just appeared in front of her.

"Kyaa!"

"Tanaka Kumiko, you are to go back to the arena."

Eyes impossibly huge, she backstepped away quickly, pointing at the — bear? — mask.

"S- s- scary! You're not supposed to just appear out of nowhere! It's impolite!"

The masked man stood very, very still. Kumiko, after seeing that the scary person wasn't doing anything, calmed herself and slowly approached the ANBU (still scrutinizing her from the way he was looking at her).

Poking the cloak to check that it was real, she commented, "Why are you wearing a mask to hide _your_ face?"

"...ANBU protocol."

"ANBU?"

"ANBU is the group of ninjas that the Hokage has sole control over, taking care of... things."

"Oh. So Tsunade-sama sent you here to look for me."

Bear didn't answer, steadily staring at her though his mask in hopes of intimidating her into following quietly back to the arena...

"Even if you try to act cool, Kakashi-ojisan is a lot cooler than you, and he doesn't even cover all his face."

The rookie ANBU sweatdropped at the childish declaration, simply stating, "It's time to go back to the arena."

But again, Kumiko disagreed with the rookie ANBU.

"Before that, you need to help me find Yoshi!"

After a pregnant pause, The ANBU hesitantly (and incredulously at the girl's bravery) asked, "...the puppy?"

"Yes. He has golden fur."

Bear inwardly cursed. He had made a bet on Tenzo-san, and he really had hoped he was in time to see the rest of the match...

"The Hokage wants you back right away."

"But... Ha-basan... she's going to get so mad at me... Please...?"

The ANBU stared at the little girl who looked about to cry, trying not to cave to the incredibly effective puppy-pout face.

If he said no, it looked like she would really shed a tear or two, which would get him killed by any and all who came across her crying who would immediately blame _him_...

If he said yes, he would no doubt face even more teasing from the other ANBU for being so easy to manipulate. Though... they would have to see the girl's puppy eyes for themselves to know that it was really no joke to resist them.

This was no choice at all.

"...Very well, we shall capture the dog first."

"Yay!"

ANBU Bear had never been more thankful for his mask, because her smile just then was radiant enough to make even the crankiest of grandpas jump up and do a jig of happiness. The slightly teary eyes from before had morphed and given her already bright eyes a sparkling effect, multiplying the (dare he say it) cute factor by tenfold. The goofy smile twitching at his lips were thankfully quite well hidden behind the porcelain mask.

Unaware of the effect of her smile, Kumiko began to gesture towards the street. "I was following until it suddenly split. This way," She told the ANBU, reaching out to grab a hand.

Bear froze at the contact, quickly removing his hand from her grip. Kumiko stopped, shocked, and Bear paled when a very hurt and confused look (his inner protective instincts were roaring at him to never let her make that face again) was pointed in his direction.

Hiding his inner discomfort, he attempted to be as cold as possible, bringing out his most intimidating ANBU voice.

"There is no need for... hand grabbing."

Kumiko frowned then crossed her arms together, her face set into a stubborn pout.

"But if I don't hold your hand, everyone is going to think that you are really scary!"

Bear stayed silent, trying again to be as intimidating as possible, but his pride as ANBU was shattered with the following comment.

"You're trying to act cool again, but you're failing. Very badly."

As Bear tried to gather the pieces of his pride together, he missed Kumiko muttering a 'Oji-san is tons cooler than you. I bet he won the match decisively,' under her breath.

{(S)}

_Kakashi: Afternoon, Arena_

"Hatake Kakashi, winner."

""That's not fair!""

"Ah, my cute students and kohais, you forgot the very essence of ninja: look underneath the —"

Kakashi cut himself off, ducking to avoid several shuriken that flew past where his head had been just a moment before.

The crowds were going wild, finally understanding that Kakashi, the next Hokage candidate and the teacher-team leader of the Titans of Konoha, won the spar. The TI department was busy handing out the winnings while many more mourned at the loss of their favorite fighters.

It was not unlike a scene from a racing horse arena.

Kakashi lazily gave a small wave to acknowledge the crowd, then turned to the booth to check up on Kumiko.

Strangely enough, she was just entering the booth holding onto the hand of Bear (who held a puppy in his other arm), looked around the cheering crowd and waved down at him.

He eye-smiled and waved back at her (even though she probably couldn't see the eye-smile) and sent a subtle signal to Tiger to 'report later'.

She was not supposed to have left the booth at all, and if she had, Tiger and the rest of the ANBU had much to answer for, as they were supposed to be the _elite_ of the elites in ANBU.

Oh, he was not being spiteful because Kumiko missed his fight.

Kakashi watched as all the ANBU in the booth suddenly stood stock still as his eye-smile, hand wave, and not-quite-killer-intent was turned towards their direction.

No, not spiteful at all.

* * *

**=OMAKE=**

**=How Kakashi Won Decisively=**

"Huh?"

"A ninja is supposed to expect anything from an opponent's attacks, my cute idiotic students and kohai."

_What? That handseal... No way! He's going to use *that* jutsu?_

"Too late."

_There's no way he's going to use *that*! It's too much to use in a spar!_

*Horror on everyone's faces*

Kakashi's eyes sparkle with evil intent as he shouts his technique:

"Hidden Leaf Ancient Supreme Technique! 15-YEAR-MYSTERY UNMASKED!"

_...'Supreme technique'?_

All paused, taking in a surprised breath as Kakashi's hand traveled up to his mask.

_That's not a jutsu__... Wait a minute..._

Kakashi's fingers slowly curled around the edges of his mask, then his hand swiped down the mask. As he did, all five nin felt a slight sting on their ankles, but it was quickly forgotten as they realized that THERE WAS NO MASK UNDER KAKASHI'S MASK.

"Tada~!"

"Uzumaki Naruto, Yamato, Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, Sai, disqualified. Hatake Kakashi, winner." Temari's even voice filled the silence.

"You have a SPOT, DATTEBAYO?!"

"It's called a birthmark, baka."

"But — but — he almost looks normal!"

"...I'm not even going to comment on that."

And that is how Kakashi won the Spar decisively.

* * *

**A/N** \- Yup, it's finally, finally here. (Did you guys see the manga short with Kakashi unmasked?! OMG!)

Um. Yeah. About Succession.

...I've been trying and trying and trying to get this story line to work, but it's. not. happening. It's just going to be fluff. No plot, people. Just fluff.

Yeah.

...Sorry?

But definitely, my thanks to all you peeps who took the time to review and love the story, even with my sporadic updates. (Next update... Don't know. Sorry, lost all my previous ideas somewhere in my mess of docs in my comp)

Much cyber-love to you all.


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